Challenging Zed
by fawkes04
Summary: READ CHALLENGING ZED BEFORE THIS. Zed is slipping, and he knows it. He's on the road of destruction, taking down everything in his path until he meets Sky Bright. His soulfinder. His balance. His light to his dark. Zed knows they are meant to be together but when it comes down to it, how can he convince Sky the same?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi there! Welcome to my first shot at fanfiction! I'll be starting from where Joss left off in Challenging Zed (the football scene) so obviously:**

**BEFORE READING THIS I REALLY DO RECOMMEND READING CHALLENGING ZED TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY****. Its free and its a gift from Joss so why not? It'll help you get a gist of the Zed before he met Sky up to the point of when he found out she was his soulfinder so yeah, go. I mean it, GO. Go do it, I'll wait—I've got all day.**

**Please review to tell me what you think! I'd love to hear what you have to say.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well, I just checked my pockets to be sure and... yep, no rights to Joss Stirlings work. Found some money though—I love it when that happens!**

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**Chapter 1**

For the remainder of the afternoon I couldn't keep my eyes off her.

My soulfinder.

Of all places, I found her on a football pitch. I couldn't believe it, _Sky Bright _was my soulfinder.

"Zed, you alright?" Sean asked giving me a sideways glance next me in the stands.

"Yeah, never better." _I found her._

"You don't seem that angry that your penalty kick was saved by that English babe."

"Don't call her that." I snapped, glaring at him.

"Whoa," said Sean, putting his hands up in surrender, "I was just kidding, what's up with you man? You suddenly got a thing for her or something?"

"You could call it that." I needed to make sure that Sean knew she was off limits, that she wasn't his to have. He could have any of my old ex-girlfriends, that was fine. I'd happily set him up with all of them if it meant he'd keep his paws of Sky.

"What happened to her being 'out of our league'?"

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind." Mom was going to freak when I tell her. I let my eyes drift back to Sky, why isn't she looking at me too? She's got to have felt the connection as well, right?

"Well, it's going to be a bit hard for you man. You have been acting like a prat to her, what with nearly drowning her and all."

He was right; I've already fucked this up. I've been nothing but horrible to Sky, blaming her for all the added stress and guilt her future put me through, she must hate me, but we're soulfinders. Surely she could overcome all of that, right? I'll have to pull her away from her friends when this afternoon is over and apologise and explain that if I knew it was her, I would've never acted that way towards her.

"It'll work out." It had to.

"If you say so." He looked unconvinced but what did he know? He didn't know the power of what finding your soulfinder could achieve. Sure, I was a jerk but she has to realise that's not what I'm really like. Either way, I'd have to make sure she's OK with me before I tell my folks, mom will be unstoppable when she finds out…

With the afternoon finally over I scanned the students, looking for Sky. Had she gone already? No, she couldn't have seeing as Tina was still here slowly walking to the changing rooms with this other girl. Great, so she had ran off. Was it out of fear of talking to me or out of happiness for the soccer fiasco to be over? I sincerely hoped it was the latter.

Seeing as Sky had ran off I wouldn't be able to talk her until tomorrow so I set off to the changing rooms and got ready to leave.

"So, Zed: How does it feel to have your strike saved by a girl no less?" Ian, another friend of mine, asked as soon as I had gotten out of the showers. If they think they can make me feel humiliated by my soulfinder saving my strike they'd have to think again, without that strike I wouldn't of found out she was the one. No, that strike was the best thing that's happened to me.

"Quite good, you should try it sometime." I reply back with a grin.

"You don't seem to be taking it that hard, I thought you'd at least be a bit more pissed especially seeing how she ripped you in front of everyone in the parking lot the other day." Ian noted.

"That's because I'm not, she got lucky. And besides," I grinned, "there's nothing sexier than an angry chick with something to prove." I hated speaking about Sky like that but I knew it'd satisfy my friends and give them something to laugh over.

"You got that right!" Sean gave me a pat on the shoulder and picked up a towel. "Hey, isn't the Aspen game tomorrow?"

"Yep." I answered, towel-drying my hair and throwing my shirt back on. "Still want me to introduce you?"

"You know it." Sean smirked; all thoughts of Sky had shot from his head, replaced with long legged cheerleaders. I'd have to make sure I introduce him to Hannah if I wanted to keep those thoughts out his mind.

"Remind me after the match tomorrow." I told him, stuffing the remainder of my belongings in my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. "Right, I'm off. See you tomorrow guys."

I walked out of the changing rooms in hope that Sky hadn't already gone home. Unfortunately, it seemed that she had, leaving me with no other option than to go home myself and speak to her tomorrow so I hopped on my bike and sped off home.

When I arrived at the house, my mom was just getting out of the jeep with grocery. I parked my bike and went over to her and took the groceries off her.

"Here, Mom. Let me take those."

"Thanks sweetheart, you're in a good mood." She said, kissing my cheek and following me inside the house.

"I am. Sorry that I've been a jerk the past couple of months."

"Don't worry about that darling, you've been put under a lot of pressure. Nobody blames you. I'm just happy to see you happy again."

We walked into the kitchen where we found Dad, Yves and Xav; they looked up as we entered.

"Whoa, what's this? Younger brother is carrying the groceries? Mom, what did you do to him?" Xav said in mock outrage.

"Oh shh, you cheeky boy. Zed is being a gentleman, which is more than I can say for the rest of his brothers. Now take the groceries off of him and put them away." She walks towards my father and kisses him on the cheek, "Hello dear."

"Hello dear, back so soon? You were quicker than I expected."

"Well that's because you take forever when it comes to the food shop."

I looked at the relationship my mom and dad had together. They were both soulfinders, a man my father knew when he was young brought them together. I had always envied them both for that, dad never really had to go through what the rest of my brothers go through, what _I _had to go through, the wondering about whether or not you'd find her; he just had someone do all the finding for him. Which is all well and good now that I understand it, if I were given the opportunity to find Sky the same way Dad found Mom I'd jump at the chance, running off in the direction the man sent me without question.

"What's got you all chipper?" Yves muttered to me taking the bags off of me and handing them to Xav.

"Nothing. Can't a guy just be in a good mood?"

"A normal guy can, _you _can't." Xav replied putting the groceries in the selected cupboards, "Seriously, what gives?"

"Oh boys, leave your brother alone." Dad told them sternly, even though his eyes were twinkling in amusement.

"I'm going upstairs."

"OK," said Mom, giving me a kiss on the cheek, "thank you for carrying in the groceries for your dear old mother."

"Anytime, Mom."

I walked to my room, deciding on the best way to talk to Sky without hurting my chances with her any further. I had to make sure she saw me for me, not the angry, violent, biker-dude that the rest of the school thought him to be.

The next day came around and I had a plan. I was to find her before the game and sort all this drama between us out, an easy plan at the time but once the time came to put the plan into action I realised one major flaw: she sure knew how to hide. I don't know whether or not she did this on purpose or she just had this way to blend into the background but I couldn't find her anywhere. I patrolled the halls at break-times, went to places I thought she'd probably go to in her spare time during the school hours but she was nowhere to be found, then—ironically—when the afternoon lessons came and I had decided to stop looking for her, she appears.

I was walking with Sean to our Science lesson, talking about the Aspen game when someone says my name.

"Hi, Zed."

"Oh, hi." I replied, skimming the group until my eyes landed on Sky, who was just between Tina and the wall. Why was she still hiding from me? I had to fix this. I had to show her I wasn't the angry boy she thought I was.

I told Sean that I'd catch up later and turned to Sky again.

"I didn't get a chance to congratulate you, Sky. You made an awesome save."

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty unbelievable." She replied sarcastically, giving me a stare. I could've laughed. She was great.

"I'm telling everyone you got lucky." I tease, lifting her bag strap back onto her shoulder, almost tenderly before dropping my hand.

"And I say I had a little help." Sky was looking at me oddly, as if she didn't understand what I was doing. Had I really messed up that badly that she didn't even trust me? Understandable, I haven't really given her the opportunity to trust me but surely she understands how remarkable this is?

"You're rumbled Zed: we all know you didn't bend the ball like you usually do."

I held my hands up in surrender. "I was just lulling Sky into a false sense of security. Next time I wont be so easy on her."

"No way. Zed Benedict, you built up this image of the meanest guy in the year and now we know you're a sucker for little blonde girls looking all too dewy-eyed and defenceless."

"Zoe! Don't make out to be dumb!" I couldn't help but grin, I loved it when she got angry.

"Miss Congeniality shows her temper! I knew you had to have had one somewhere."

I watch as Sky's temper rose and prepared myself to put on the strongest pokerface I had. "You'd be like that if you had to live with looking like I do."

Not even with the strongest pokerface I had could prepare me for the fierce expression that flashed across face; I burst out laughing followed by her two friends.

"Oh so I'm a joke, am I?"

Tina, saving the day, holds up her hands to prevent Sky from leaving and says apologetically "Sorry, Sky. It's just that you looked so fierce when you said that..."

"Yeah like Bambi with a Uzi." Zoe chimed in.

"And, just so we're clear, none of us think you're dumb. Do we?"

"Definitely not."

"But I have to agree with Zoe." I chimed in, unsuccessfully suppressing an amused grin. "You don't do mean as well as me. Maybe I should give you lessons. Be careful, won't you?" I brushed my hand lightly down her arm and walked off to where Sean was waiting for me, my hand tingling from the touch of her skin.

"What was that about?" Sean asked as soon as I was outside my Science lesson.

"Nothing, lets just go to lesson."

Later on, I find myself back in the changing rooms after the game. We had won—I had made sure of that before I stopped using my gift as an advantage. I could feel Sky's presence in the stands, I didn't even know she had decided to come until I had felt the warmth radiating from the general direction of the Home Team's crowd. It was comforting to know she was watching, but distracting all the same. I had felt my eyes unintentionally drift towards her section of the stands once or twice during the game.

Once I had finished up in the changing rooms and left to go find her I realised she had disappeared once again, what was with that girl? Why did she keep running from me?

I dipped into my gift slightly and saw her walking alone in the dark with grocery bags. _Walking alone in the dark. _What was she doing? Didn't I tell her specifically not to go out in the dark by herself? I thought back to my premonition and scowled, I couldn't allow that to happen. Not to my soulfinder.

I start jogging towards the direction of her house, until I see a silhouette of her height. I start jogging faster to close the distance between us.

"Sky!" I place a hand on her shoulder to stop her walking and she jerks, turning around quickly and nearly hitting me with her grocery bag.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" She yells, clutching her chest and giving me a glare.

"Sorry. I thought I told you that you should take care walking home after dark."

"You mean some boy might jump out and give me the scare of my life?"

I almost smiled. "You never know. All kinds of people out in the mountains."

"Well you've certainly proved your point."

I grinned, prying the bag out of her fingers, "Here, let me take that. I'll walk you home."

"No need." She stares at me like I've lost my mind. Clearly she hasn't gotten used to me being nice to her yet.

"I want to."

"And you always get your way?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

I laugh. "Nearly always."

She didn't object so I took it as a sign to start walking towards her house. I broke the silence first by asking the question that nagged at me ever since I found out she was my soulfinder.

"So, when were you going to tell me you were a Savant?"

She slowed slightly and stared at me in confusion. "A what?"

I halted her under the street lamp in front of her house and turned up the collar of her jacket, just to give me a reason to touch her, "You must realise how amazing this is."

"How amazing is what?"

"I see, you're punishing me for being a jackass. But you have to understand that I didn't know it was you. I thought I was warning some ditzy stranger to prevent her being knifed."

Sky pushes my hands away, "What are you talking about?"

"I had this premonition a few nights before we met at the ghost town – you get them too?" She shook her head. "You running down the street in the dark – a knife – screams – blood. I had to warn you—just in case it would do any good."

"Um, Zed…thanks for worrying about me but I'd better get back now."

"Yeah, as if that's going to happen. Sky, you're my soulfinder, my partner–you can't just walk away from me."

"I can't?" Those words cut me, how could she say that? I know I've been cruel to her but surely she didn't want to throw all of this away because of it.

"You must've felt it too." I said desperately, "I knew as soon as you answered me–it was like, I don't know how to say this, like fog lifting. I could really _see _you." I stroked her cheek with my fingertips, trying to show her my tender side. "Do you know what the odds of us finding each other are?"

"Whoa. Go back a little bit. Soulfinder?"

I smile softly at her. "Yeah," I said, pulling her closer to me, "no half life existence for us. It's taken me a few days to get over the shock and I've been waiting to speak to you so I can break the news to my folks."

"Zed," she placed her hands on my chest and pushed me back, "I've not a clue what you're talking about, but if you expect me to…to… I don't know what you expect, but its not happening. You don't like me; I don't like you. Get over it."

"_Get over it?_" This wasn't supposed to be how this happened. She was supposed to accept me with open arms and forgive me for what a jerk I've been, not reject me. "Savants wait all their lives to find the one and you think I can _get over it_?"

"Why not? I don't even know what a savant is!"

I thumped my chest, hard. "I'm one." I prodded her, softly. "You're one. Your gifts, Sky—they make you a savant. You must get that at least."

Recognition flashes across her face before it disappears and she takes a step back. "Can I have my shopping bag, please?"

I stare at her, shocked. "What? That's it? We make the most astounding discovery of our lives and you're just going to go home?" This had to be a joke, Sky's way of getting back at me for being a jackass when we first met, but taking a look at her face as she looked around for an escape I knew it wasn't. She was rejecting me.

"Um… yes. Looks like it."

"You can't!" Sky. Don't do this, please.

"Just watch me." She tugs the shopping bag out of my numb fingers before quickly walking the last few yards to her house.

"Sky," I shout after her, "you can't ignore this! You're mine—you have to be."

"No. I. Don't."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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**Chapter 2**

I watched as she slammed the door to our future together shut in agony. Was she really rejecting me? I knew I had fucked everything up but I didn't know just how badly until now. She didn't want me. Well, actually, she didn't understand it, that much was clear. How doesn't she understand? Anger bubbles up inside of me, did her parents not tell her what she was? Were her parents hiding from the Net? It'd make sense since mom couldn't find them on it; Sky obviously had no clue what she was, her parents had not told her anything about the Savant life or even how to control her gifts. What if her gifts were as powerful as Yves'? A power like that and having no clue on how to control it would be dangerous. To herself and to everyone around her, just hearing about the stories of Yves as a toddler told me that.

I had to find out how much she knew of the Savant life, even if she didn't want me she was my soulfinder and I would do anything to protect her. I scanned the area of her house with determination, looking for a way to get Sky's attention when all of a sudden a light flicked on in the front bedroom next to an apple tree. Was that Sky's bedroom? It must be.

I glanced at the branches of the trees. They looked pretty sturdy. I could make it up there without making a fool of myself, I walked towards the tree and started to scale it without difficulty until I was outside of her window.

I _really _hoped it was Sky's bedroom and not her parents, I don't think I could make it back from having her dad opening their curtains to find their daughter's soulfinder sat in their apple tree.

I contemplate how to get Sky's attention when all of a sudden, the curtain drew back to reveal a scared Sky gripping onto the edge of the fabric.

"Sheesh!" She puts her hand to her chest before throwing up the window. "What are you doing there? Get down, go away!"

I wasn't expecting her to be happy to see me but still, her rejection still hurt. I got ready to jump through her window.

"Invite me in." I internally cringed as soon as I said that line. What as I doing?

"Stop—get down!" she hissed, looking down at the ground then back at me. Does she- does she care?

_I wonder if I should get Simon. _The sliver of hope I just had disappeared.

"No, don't get your dad. I need to talk to you."

Sky flapped her arms at me. "Go away! I don't want you here."

I sigh, giving up on the idea of forcing my way into the house and just made myself comfortable on the branch. "I know." Why didn't I see it before? It's clear to me now that she doesn't know what a soulfinder is. Maybe there's hope for us yet. "Sky, why don't you know you're a savant?"

"I can't answer that when I don't understand the question." I watch her contemplate on shutting the window, I will her not to.

"You heard me speaking to you—in your head. You didn't just follow my hint, you heard words." I had to get her to understand, even if it was just the basics. Even that was a start.

Sky's eyes widen in confusion. "I…I…"

_You answered me. _I spoke gently into her mind. "All savants can do it."

I went too far, I saw that as soon as I saw her shut down, shaking her head in denial.

"I'm not hearing anything." She lied. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

I sigh again. "I can see that and I have to know why." Obviously her parent never used their gifts around her, or was only one of her parents a savant and was hiding it from the family? I'd have to see how much Sky knows until I went and asked dad what he thinks.

"I'm sure that's very fascinating but it's late and I want to sleep. So…um…goodnight, Zed. Let's talk about this some other time." _Like never._

I frown at the thought that leaked into my head; she's not even going to listen to what I have to say? I fold my arms. "You won't even give me a hearing?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm your soulfinder."

She pointed at me and glared. "Stop that, I don't understand you." She lowered her hand. "You're nothing to me. You're rude, cold and you don't even like me and have taken every opportunity to criticize me."

Her words cut me like a knife, I try to remind myself that she's angry and deep down I know she doesn't mean what she's saying but the words circle around in my head, tainting my thoughts. _You're nothing to me…_

"So that's what you think of me?" I asked dejectedly, bracing myself for the reply.

She nodded. "Maybe this is, I dunno, your latest plot to humiliate me in some way—pretending you like me."

I laugh brokenly. "You really don't like me, do you? Great, my soulfinder doesn't understand the first thing about me."

"What's there to understand? Jerks are pretty easy to read."

I start towards the window again I had to get her to stop trying to block every attempt I make in trying to explain to her the situation.

She takes a step back suddenly scared. "Get out of my tree." She says shakily pointing to her gate.

I take a moment to look at her before I do what she says, there's no point in scaring her, that isn't going to get her to accept me. "OK," I say softly, "but this isn't over, Sky. We've got to talk."

"Get out."

"I'm going." I take one more look at her before dropping out of her tree. I wait until she's locked the window before I stalk off, angry with myself for how that turned out.

When I had got home I found the lights off meaning everyone had went to bed. Happy with this, I quietly made my way into the house unaware of my brother sat on the staircase until the lights switched on, alerting me that I wasn't alone in the hallway.

"And just _where _have you been, young man?" Xav said imitating our mother's stern voice perfectly, if I wasn't so annoyed with myself I would have probably cracked a smile.

"Not in the mood, Xav." I grind out walking past the staircase to the kitchen, hoping Xav got the message and went back upstairs.

"Hey, don't walk away from me. I want a word with you!" he replied, following me into the kitchen.

"Here, have two bro: Piss off."

"Nice. What's crumpled your corn?"

"Nothing, Xav. Just go to bed." I sigh, sitting down in one of the chairs and putting my face in my hands, I've made such a mess of things.

Xav sits down in the seat next to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me you know? I won't judge you…at least not _openly._" I crack a smile from underneath my hands. "What's got you down?"

I might as well tell him, couldn't hurt my chances with her any more. I'll keep the soulfinder part to myself though, better safe than sorry. "There's this girl-"

Xav chokes on his laughter. "I'm sorry, what?"

"What happened to the no judging?" I muttered.

"I said I wouldn't judge—and I'm not—teasing however is another thing entirely." He ruffles my hair with his hand, which I slap away impatiently. "So are you going to tell me what's up with this girl?"

"Are you going to tease me?"

"Probably."

"Then no." I grinned.

"Oh come on! Fine, I'll try not tease you. Happy? Now tell me."

"I like her—a lot—and she hates me." It sounded petty to even myself. "I've really made a mess of things. She refers to me as 'Wolfman' in her thoughts."

"You should know right now how hard it is not to tease you."

"Great, you're really helpful." I mutter sarcastically.

"Well, its quite simple isn't it?" Xav said happily, "Show her you're not the Wolfman she's thought you out to be."

"You think I haven't tried that? She won't have it. Thinks I'm only doing it to humiliate her in front of everyone." I cringed as I remembered that piece of information.

"Sheesh, Zed. What did you do to the girl?"

"Nearly drowned her due to a late premonition during activities day."

"Ouch. Kind of hard to come back to."

"Thanks, that's very touching to know."

"Hey I said its _kind of _hard to come back to not impossible. There's a simple solution to all of this."

"I'm all ears."

"Start fresh with her." He said with a shrug.

"You say that like it's so easy."

"It is easy."

Out of options I think this couldn't hurt, maybe she'd even like it. "Do you think it'll work?"

"Yeah. I think it would."

"Thanks man, I'll give it a go. Wouldn't hurt to try."

"Awesome. Now I'm going to go to bed before all the teasing comments I've held in burst out of me. G'night."

"Night."

With a new plan on how to win over my soulfinder in my mind, I let a happy smile form my face before going to bed myself.

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**AN: Come on Sky give the guy a break :( writing the apple tree scene just made me want to take Zed and give him a big hug.**

**And aw Xav, isn't he cute? I tried to think of a way on how he'd know about Wolfman for halloween and this was the best I could come up with, still, it could cause some humour later on.**

**Writing this story has kind of made me want to read the other soulfinder books... Again.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Chapters every Wednesday.**

**Disclaimer: I still own nada. **

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**Chapter 3**

I should really stop underestimating Sky when it comes to hiding, I thought glumly as I watched her beg Tina for a lift home.

This had to stop; she's been doing this all week. Avoiding me in the halls when I intercept her route to classes, begging Tina for lifts home instead of usually walking to and from then calling in on her busy body of a neighbour until her parents came home. I had to catch her off guard if I was ever going to get her to consider giving me another chance – a fresh start that I desperately wanted. Ever since I found out she was my soulfinder, I kept thinking back to how I treated her and kicking myself for it, I should've figured it out sooner especially from the reaction I had around her. I knew there was something different about her, something not like the other girls yet that just made me more defensive – more of an arsehole, which scared her away.

I had to fix this, I thought to myself early Saturday morning in bed, she was my soulfinder and I had to make her see that I wasn't the Wolfman she had me out to be in her thoughts, even thinking about my villain-self inside her head made me cringe.

I sat up in bed excitedly, a spark of an idea forming inside my head. It was early; her parents were probably still sleeping. She'd never expect me to try on the weekend – it was _perfect. _I'd buy her some flowers, something Wolfman would never do and start from there. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand: 8:00. Perfect, plenty of time to get ready.

I jump out of bed, a new surge of energy giving me a bounce in my step and hopped in the shower before drying myself off and quickly changing into some jeans and a t-shirt before running down the stairs and through the kitchen.

_Off to slay your next victim, Wolfman? _Xav's amused voice bursts into my head as I shot past him, quickly picking up a breakfast bar and before running back out off the kitchen to the front door.

_You could call it that._ I thought back to him, taking a large bite out of the granola bar as I left the house and started on my way into town deciding walking was the better alternative then taking my bike – just in case the rumbling of the engine woke up her parents as I parked.

_Good luck, bro. Tell me how it goes._

Once into town I walked to a popular flower shop I knew Dad always went to when treating Mom to flowers and settled on a bouquet full of blue and purple flowers, thinking back to what type of flowers Mom liked and then set off to Sky's, hoping she was awake and that her father hadn't decided that today was a good day to get up early.

When I reached her house I began to get nervous. Her parents were asleep, just as I thought and Sky was awake, going about her morning routine. _You can do this_. _She is your soulfinder. _I thought to myself, taking a deep breath before striding to her doorstep and lightly rapping my knuckles against the door.

_Here goes nothing. _I thought, taking a deep breath as the doorknob twisted revealing Sky still in her pyjamas and a mug of tea in her hands. She looked beautiful; I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have her as my soulfinder.

I thrust the flowers at her before she considers shutting the door. I held out my hand.

"Let's start again. Hi, I'm Zed Benedict. And you are?"

She looks down at the flowers in her hand, marvelling at how I had gotten her favourite colours right. I gave an inner whoop of delight, taking this as a sign of encouragement.

"Go on–this is the easy part." I put on a ridiculous British accent and threw a grin at her. "'I am Sky Bright and I'm from England.'"

Her mouth twitched. "I do not speak like that."

"Sure you do. Go on."

"Hi, I'm Sky Bright. I'm from Richmond, England." My grin widens, happy that she plays along–however reluctantly, Xav was right, this fresh start idea was a good one. Maybe, just maybe, if I play this right I'll get my girl.

"Now you say," I put on the accent again, "'Wow, what lovely flowers! How about coming in for a nice cup of tea?'"

_That accent had to go_. I had to bite back a laugh as the thought leaked into my head. She threw a look over her shoulder and up the stairs, wondering about her parents. "They're asleep." I nodded into the house, hopefully put her mind at ease. "So?"

A shy smile spread across her face, making her face glow. "Well, they are lovely flowers." I couldn't believe it; she was giving me a chance! "Coffee?"

I smiled. "If you insist." My nervousness comes back like a blow to the stomach, this was probably the only chance I was going get with her to show her the real me. It had to go smoothly.

"Come through to the kitchen." She told me, walking ahead then busying herself by putting on the kettle and getting out a vase to put the flowers in. "Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I messed up. I want to say sorry."

She lifts up the flowers in acknowledgement before putting them into the vase. "These are a good start." _It was the first time anyone had ever given me flowers. _I supress a frown at the thought, well, we're going to have to change that aren't we? I now understood why Dad bought Mom flowers all the time, I could see the happiness – if somewhat nervous happiness – in Sky, and decided I definitely wanted to see more of that.

With Sky finishing off with the flowers, I walk over to the coffee-machine to try and get started on the coffee. Once started, I realised this wasn't the same as the machine back home. Juggling with the cafetière I glanced up to find Sky watching me in amusement. "How does this thing work?"

She takes it from me and shows me how to work it, before setting it on the counter. "You're not very at home in the kitchen?"

"Family of boys." I answered in a way of explanation. "We've got a coffee-maker–does great filter coffee."

"And she's called your mum."

I laughed, thinking about how dad would react if any of us let mom run around making coffee for us. "No way. She gets waited on hand and foot in our house."

I took the mug she handed to me and sat down at the breakfast bar. "So tell me something about yourself. I play drums and guitar. How about you?" I stuck to the topic I knew we both loved: Music.

"Piano, sax and guitar."

"See, we can talk without me freaking out on you." I was quite proud of myself if I was going to be honest. Fifteen minutes in and Sky hasn't run away from me yet.

"Yeah." She glanced at me timidly from the corner of her eye. "You…you like all music, or just jazz?"

I nearly shouted out in glee, she was trying to start fresh with me. Even if it was just by asking me questions about music she was still trying to get to know me.

"All, but I like the freedom to improvise." I patted the place next to me on the bench, supressing yet another grin as she sat down next to me. "I like to cut free of what has to be. For me, it's kind of free fall with the notes as a parachute."

"I like that too." Of course she did, I saw that in her every time she played. She let the music drift her away like she was in a river with the notes gliding her through the stream, taking her in any direction they choose.

"It's musicians' music. Not so straightforward as some but really repays when you get into it." I glance at her, begging her to understand my hidden meaning below the surface of my words. "I mean, you've got to be really confident to launch into an off-the-cuff solo and not make a fool of yourself. Everyone can make mistakes when they rush something, go in too early."

"I suppose." She mumbled, hiding her face behind her hair.

"You really didn't know." The words were tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them. I decided on my way to her house I wouldn't talk about being a savant or us being soulfinders. One step at a time, start off with little things – earning her trust, before I try to talk to her about anything savant. But being around her, being so close to her with her thoughts jumbling up with mine gets me wondering how she couldn't have known she was a savant and who had hidden it from her.

I shook my head, removing the ramblings from my head and realising Sky had tensed up so I thought I might as well continue with my train of thought. "And you've not got the faintest idea why I warned you that day. You think I've been trying to scare you."

"Weren't you?" She asked, glancing at me with her wide piercing blue eyes. "All that stuff about knives and blood."

"I didn't mean it like that." I murmured reassuringly, taking a risk by placing my hand on top of hers, grazing my thumb calmly over her knuckles. Willing her to listen to me without shutting down. "It's funny sitting with you. I get so much from you, like you're broadcasting on all frequencies."

"What does that mean?"

"It's difficult to explain." Especially when I promised myself not to mention anything Savant. "I'm sorry I've been rude to you."

"Rude? I just thought you had some weird allergic reaction to economy-sized English girls."

"Is that what you are?"

"Um…yeah. Still waiting for that growth spurt Sally's been promising since I was fourteen."

I squeezed her hand gently. "Your height's perfect. I come from a family of giant redwoods; a bonsai makes a pleasant change." I teased lightly.

_Bonsai! If I'd known him better I would've dug him in the ribs for that one. _Her voice slips through the shields I strengthened after I slipped up with the Savant talk earlier. I was going to have to teach her to shield once all this was sorted out unless I wanted to get distracted with her thoughts every time I'm around her.

"So you're not going to explain what's been the problem with me?"

"Not today. I've messed it up once; I'm not going to risk spoiling it a second time by rushing. This is too important." I pick up her hand, remembering how shy she is and curled her fingers into a fist, punching myself with it. "There–I deserved that."

"You're crazy."

"Yep, that's me."

I decided on this happy moment I would take my leave. "OK, I'll head out now. I don't want to push my luck. It was good meeting you, Sky. See you around."

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**AN: Ok this was going to be a lot longer, but because I really wanted this chapter to be out by today I decided to half it and post the next part to it either next week or in a couple days. Depending on how much college work I get done in the about that. **

**Thank you for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you for all the reviews oh my god it's so nice to read that everyone likes the story ah! I've had a few questions about when I will be updating the story and it's every Wednesday seeing as thats my day off and the only time I'd be able to fit in writing this story due to ungodly amounts of work i've received. **

**Onto the chapter! This is going to be a short one. I know, I'm sorry but I promise the next one will be a lot bigger.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. I own nothing.**

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**Chapter 4**

Taking Saturday's conversation as a good sign I carried on with the 'fresh start' plan. I decided after school I was going to persuade Sky to let me drive her home – asking her to place her trust in me, it was also a bonus to know that she got home safely. The premonition was starting to make me paranoid, with Sky not 100% trusting me and believing the whole Savant topic I was more nervous than ever. She didn't know what was out there; the people my family are determined to put behind bars – the people who don't care what you have to go home to, they just shoot to kill.

I kept my distance from Sky during school. I decided that I'd wait to talk to her after school when I ask her to take a ride with me; it wasn't an easy task though. Watching her throw her head back laughing with her friends, the shyness still gleaming in her features. I watched her play the piano during lunchtime, losing her self in the melody and just wishing again to myself how I could be the keys on the piano – to feel her fingers run over me delicately.

I tried distracting myself with hanging out with my friends but when the clocked rolled around to the end of the day I was the first out of the door, impatient to talk to her.

I decided to wait beside Tina's car, assuming that Tina would be giving Sky a lift home. I was correct as I watched Sky and Tina approach the car, Sky staring at me shyly with a mix of confusion before looking down at the ground and Tina jumping at the opportunity to give me a warning glance, telling me in that one look that if I hurt Sky I'd regret it. It was nice to see that Sky had such good friends here that would look out for her, but Tina had to know that I wouldn't do anything intentional to hurt her, and if by some chance I managed to hurt her I'd willingly accept the pain that would be brought to me by her friends.

"Hi, Tina, how's it going?"

Tina raised her eyebrow in disbelief before giving Sky a meaningful glance, it was quite funny to watch but at least Tina knew I was here for Sky and not just for the hell of it.

"Fine, Zed. You?"

"Great. Sky, ready to go home?" I asked casually, holding out the motorbike helmet I swiped from home. I knew it was a risk asking her like this – like we had already arranged this, but I had to try. Watching her I realised Sky tended to go with the flow when uncomfortable situations arise to avoid a scene so I was hoping I could use this little snippet of information to my advantage.

"Tina is giving me a lift." She replied warily.

"I'm sure she wont mind if I do that. I want to make sure Sky gets home, OK, Tina?"

"I said I'd take Sky." Tina said, eyeing me suspiciously. I internally groan, this would be so much easier if I had Xav with me, or Yves.

I looked at Sky pleadingly, biting back my pride and holding out the helmet again. "Please?"

Sky looks at me torn and I almost laugh at her motorbike fantasy. I was glad to know that Sky loved motorbikes, it was one more thing we had in common.

"Sky?"

Sky let out a sigh. "It's OK. Thanks Tina, I'll go with Zed." She took the helmet out of my waiting hand and balanced it in her palms.

Yes. _She said yes!_ She's putting her trust in me, allowing me to show her once again I wasn't the Wolfman she thought me out to be. Sure, she still doesn't understand my motives – I can see that written all over my face but it's a start.

"If you're sure," said Tina uncomfortably, tugging on her hair and glancing between the two of us worriedly. Can't she see yet? I would never do anything to hurt Sky. In my arms is the safest place she could be. I just need Sky to realise that.

_Not really. _The thought leaks into my head as a reminder to go gentle with her, there's no reason to freak her out, at least not until she's more trustworthy of me. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah." Tina muttered, before throwing her bag into the passenger seat of her car.

I led Sky over to my bike before she could change her mind and run back to Tina's car, ignoring the astonished looks from the students in the parking lot. Let them stare; I thought territorially, now they know that Sky is my mine and nothing anyone could try to do could change that, but I'd welcome anyone to try and to see where it would get them.

I shake off the territorial thoughts, shocked at myself for thinking like that and glanced at Sky who was avoiding contact with the rest of the school, her cheeks burning a faint blush. She was here, with me, and that's all that matters.

She glanced up as we reached my bike and looked nervously at me. "I've never ridden one of these before."

I climbed on the bike and glanced at her as she got on after me. "The secret is to hold on tight." I grin widely at the idea of having her arms around my torso, gripping onto me loosely. My grin widens when I feel her move closer to me, her hands gently moving across my chest to grip on tightly, her legs brushing my hips. I definitely need to take her on more motorbike rides when all this is over.

I start the bike, feeling my grin couldn't get any wider as I feel Sky's arms tighten around me when we start to move. Easing my way out of the car park easily, pushing down on the gas I take my hand from the handle to give her hands a brief, reassuring caress.

I don't think it could get any better than this.

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**AN: I know, I know its short I'm sorry I will try and make the next chapter a whole lot longer for you guys. But hey? Can we get a hallelujah? I mean, Zed's finally getting his girl! Slowly but surely. **

**Updates every WEDNESDAY. **

**Thank you for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Wow, almost didn't get this in on the deadline I set myself. Does after midnight count as missing my deadline? I don't think it does therefore I don't feel guilty. My advice to you guys: never take film production if you mind not having free time, writing screenplays and getting locations is a lot to do in such a short time. wowza.**

**anyway, onto the chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I really should stop putting this y'all know I own nothing.**

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**Chapter 5**

Boy, was I wrong; it could get better. I was definitely going to have to take her on more motorbike rides when all this is sorted, I don't think I could ever tire of having her arms around me.

"Doing OK back there?"

"Fine." I saw the turning to Sky's house and disappointment started to bubble up inside of me, I didn't want this journey to end so I decided to take a chance in hopes that I would have an opportunity to sit and talk to her face to face. Let her get to know me a bit better, baby steps but important steps nonetheless.

"Want to go a bit further? I can take you up into the mountains. There's about thirty minutes of light left." I felt her hesitate and willed her silently to say yes.

"Maybe just a little way."

She said yes again! I couldn't believe my luck. Not giving her an opportunity to back out of her decision, I sped past the turning to her house and up the road to a place I went to be alone when I needed to think, there was little beyond here, only a few cabins that were never used which was why I liked it – none of my family knew that I go here which made it that much more peaceful.

I hopped off the bike and helped Sky dismount as well before letting her admire the view for a little while.

"So, Sky, how was your day?" I asked once she turned back towards me, with being away from her all day and my shields strong and unyielding I hadn't really known what she had been up to all day apart from the composing at lunchtime.

She gave me a strange look, still not trusting the real me. That was another reason as to why I wanted more time with her, the longer I'm around her, the quicker she'll get used to me being _me _and not the Wolfman she still thinks I am and maybe she'll learn to trust me in the process.

"Fine. I did a little composing at lunchtime."

I smiled, "I saw you at the piano."

"You didn't come in?" Sky asked surprised, unconsciously gripping onto the tips of her hair.

I laughed and held up my hands in surrender. "I'm being careful. Very, very careful with you, Sky, you're a scary girl."

"Me?" She sounded like she was trying to contain her laughter, wondering how 'tough 'ol Wolfman' would be scared of 'little Bo-Peep'.

"Think about it: You rip me up in the parking lot in front of my friends, save my best penalty kick, chuck me out of your apple tree–yeah, you're terrifying."

"I like the sound of that." She replied, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

I grinned at her thoughts spilling into my head, _SuperSky to the rescue – destroying the villains and saving the town from destruction!_ I missed this during the day; her imagination really was something else.

I sigh, the happiness leaking out of me with the exhaling breath. "But what scares me the most is that there's so much riding on our relationship and you don't even know it."

And it was true, now it had come to light that Sky is my soulfinder it would be so much harder to let go – not that I'd _want _to let go but with all of the dangers towards her lurking around every corner and Sky not knowing her true powers as a Savant, unwilling to let me tell her, the possibility of her being hurt was high with or without my protection. If I lost Sky… there would be no going back, not even my family could save me from the darkness that would undoubtedly overcome me. I couldn't let that happen, not just for me but also for Sky. I would do anything to protect her, even if it meant going in front of her and taking the dangers myself. I would do it, without question.

She huffed out a sigh and looked at me. "OK, Zed, try and explain it to me again. I'll listen this time."

I nodded, relieved that she was going to let me explain. "I guess you don't know anything about savants?"

"I know more about soccer." I chuckle at that, remembering the soccer day at school and how clueless she was about the sport.

"I'll just give you a little information now then, just to get us started. Let's sit here for a moment." I boosted her onto a fallen tree trunk and leant against it so we were on eye level with each other and for the first time I really got a look at her beautiful dark blue eyes. I couldn't help but let my eyes drift over her, drinking her in – it was the closest we had ever been to each other since the disaster that was the rafting lesson. "Sure you want to hear? 'Cause if I tell you, I've got to ask you to keep it a secret for the sake of the rest of my family."

"Who would I tell?"

"I dunno. _The National Enquirer _maybe. Oprah. A congressional committee." I replied wryly.

Sky laughed, her face lighting up beautifully with amusement making my breath catch in my throat. "Er, no, no and definitely not," She counted them on her fingers, amusement still glittering on her face. I smiled, still marvelling at how someone as beautiful as she was turned out to be my soulfinder.

"OK then." Brushing a tendril of her hair off her brow tenderly before continuing on with the story. "Savants: I'm one. All my family are, but I've got a heavy dose of being the seventh son. My mom's a seventh child too."

"And that makes it worse?"

"Yeah, there's a multiplier effect. Savants have this gift; it's like an extra shift in a car, makes us go a little bit faster and further than normal people."

"Right. OK."

Taking this acceptance as a cue, I reach out to comfort her, rubbing soothing circles on her knee and taking it as a sign of victory on my part when she doesn't push me away. "It means we can talk telepathically to each other. With people who don't have the savant _gene, _they would feel an impression, an impulse, not to hear the voice. That's what I thought would happen when I spoke to you on the soccer pitch. I was pretty surprised when you understood me–blown away, in fact."

I had to get her to understand in the easiest way that there was no escaping this gene, that you couldn't ignore it.

"Because?"

"Because it meant that you are a telepath too. And when a soulfinder speaks telepathically to her partner, it's like all the lights coming on in a building. You lit me up like Vegas."

"I see." But she didn't, I could see that in her eyes. She didn't _want _to believe me, she wanted to rule all this off as a coincidence and that hurt. I rested my head against hers, trying to give her strength to continue on with this talk, she attempted a subtle move to put some distance between us, but I curled my fingers softly around her nape, holding her to me.

"No, you don't. There's more."

I felt another sense of victory when I felt her relax under my touch, "I thought there might be."

"When's your birthday?"

"Um… first of March. Why?"

First of March? No, that can't be right. If that was her birthday then that meant– No. Sky was my soulfinder. I knew it in my gut, in my _heart. _There was obviously a mistake.

"That's not right."

"It's the day of my adoption."

"Ah, I see. That's why." And I did. I let my hand drop over hers and pondered what she had just said.

So, she's adopted, that would be why she doesn't know what a Savant is and why she doesn't know that she is one. Her parent's aren't hiding the gifts from her; they genuinely don't know they are there. They're not – I thought with relief – hiding from the Net. This explained so much and it felt nice to not have to be worried over the fact that she might be living with the wrong side of the Net.

I slipped into her mine gently to see if I could find her proper birthday and my heart clenches at what I find, her thoughts that she's hidden away from herself are so close to the victims I had grown used to seeing, it made me angry. Someone had willingly hurt my soulfinder, before her adoption someone went out of his or her way to hurt her. Sky, my sweet innocent soulfinder who wouldn't hurt a fly had been tainted by all these dark memories she weren't willing to remember and I couldn't blame her. What I wouldn't give to find the person who hurt her and show them what would happen if they tried to hurt my girl again.

Once I had mentally vented my anger out I realised Sky had registered my presence in her mind, "Yeah, that's me. I'm just checking."

She shook her head quickly in denial, causing me to move my head away in case I get hit. "No, I'm imagining this."

I gave out a long-suffering sigh, how many times do I have to say it to her to make her believe it? She has to see that I'm not making this up, there's evidence backing up my statements. "I'm just checking my facts. I can't make a mistake about something like a soulfinder." I move back to look at her. "I understand now. You've come from a dark place, haven't you?"

She freezes up and I'm suddenly worried that I've overstepped my mark but I'm too far-gone to stop talking now. "You don't know who your biological parents are?"

"No." she mumbles, curling up into herself slightly. It was heart-breaking to watch. _He was finding out too much. Letting people close hurts. _My heart clenches at the thought that leaked into my head, what did the people before her adoption do to her? She has to know that I would never hurt her, no matter how close she became to me I would never do anything to make her regret it.

"So you never knew that you had a gift."

"That's because I don't. I'm ordinary. No extra shifts in here." She tapped her head to emphasise.

"Not that you've found. But they're there." I saw them, in her mind. She just hasn't opened them yet – locked them up with all the memories she wants to forget. "You see, Sky, when a savant is born, his or her counterpart also arrives about that time somewhere on the earth. It could be next door, or maybe thousands of miles away." I entwined my fingers with her and locked eye contact with her, begging her to understand. "You have half our gifts, I the other. Together we make a whole. Together, we are much more powerful."

She rolled her eyes and my heart sunk, she didn't understand. "It sounds sweet, a nice fairy tale, but it can't possibly be true."

"Not sweet. Think about it: the chances of meeting your other half is tiny. Most of us are doomed to knowing there's something better for us out there but we can't discover it. My parents are two of the lucky ones; they have each other thanks to a wise man of my dad's people with a gift for finding. None of my brothers have yet located their partner and each of them struggles with it. It's a killer, knowing things could be so much _more. _That's why I rushed. I was a starving man facing a banquet."

"And if they never meet their soulfinder?"

"It can go many ways – despair, anger, acceptance. It gets worse as the years tick by. It hadn't really begun to worry me yet. I'm incredibly lucky to escape all that angst."

I could tell she was pulling at strings now, trying desperately to not believe it was true but couldn't ignore the facts. "Seems simple to me. Can't they run a savant match-making service on Facebook or something? Problem solved."

I smiled at the dryly. "Like we haven't thought of that. But it's not about your birthday exactly, but when you were conceived – that gives quite a lot of variation nine months on. Think how many people in the world were born on or around your birthday. Then factor in the premature babies, the ones overdue. You'd be trawling through thousands. Savants are rare – there's only one every ten thousand or so. And not every savant lives in a country like ours with computers at home. Or even speaks the same language."

"Yeah I see that." _Sort of, if I was going to buy this whole thing, which I didn't._

Not letting that thought bother me, I cupped her chin gently and carried on. "But against all odds, I've discovered you. On a soccer pitch of all places. Sky Bright from Richmond, England."

"What does this all mean?"

"It means that's it for us. For life."

"Joking?" I shook my head, sad that she thought I'd joke about something like this, "But I'm only here for, like, a year."

My heart sunk. "Just a year?"

"That's the plan." She replied airily.

"And you do what then? Go back to England?"

She shrugs, her eyes showing the panic inside of her. "I don't know. It depends on Sally and Simon. It's going to be hard because I'll have done a year here and the course is completely different back in the UK. I don't want to start all over again."

I squeezed out entwined hands. "Then we'll find a way for you to stay. Or I'll follow you to England." Hopefully now she saw how serious I was about this. About _us. _

"You will?"

"Hell, yeah. This is serious." I gave her fingers another squeeze. "So she doesn't run for the hills."

She frowned. "Meaning?"

I took our entwined fingers and tucked them into my jacket, keeping my fingers locked around hers as I leant on the trunk beside her, looking out at the view.

"I thought you might be a bit wary of me at first, until you got used to me. The nice me, not the jerk me."

"Wary?"

I smirk. "Wolfman, remember? You've got me down on the dark side; I saw that in your thoughts." I might as well get everything out in the open, give her more proof to show her I wasn't kidding around about the Savant stuff.

_He knew about Wolfman? Kill me now, why don't you?_

"No way, it's cute."

She groans in humiliation. I chuckled, finding her embarrassment adorable, "I know I can be a bit hard to talk to sometimes – like when we met at ghost town. I'm going through…" I shake my head, best not get into that right now plus I don't want those dark thoughts to swamp my mind when I'm talking to Sky, "it's tough right now. And sometimes, I just get… _overwhelmed. _Too much weighing on me."

"You're not making this up? You do something, don't you?"

This was my chance, my chance to take things to the next level. Why was I suddenly nervous? I chose my words carefully. "I do a lot of things. I'd like to do some things with you, Sky, if you want to. I was wrong to rush in claiming you as my soulfinder – you need to arrive at the same place with me. After all, we've the rest of our lives to get this right."

I watched her reaction closely with a sense of hopefulness. This was it, I'd either get knocked down and that would be it or she'd give me a chance, a chance to take her out and prove that all this Savant stuff was nothing to be afraid of – that we can still live our lives as normal even if we have gifts running through our veins.

"What kind of things?"

I smile, gently running my free hand down her arm, linking our fingers on her other side. "Go for a ride."

"We've just been doing that." She replied, smiling shyly.

"Then we've ticked the first box already." I answered cheerfully. "Next we might go out to the movies in Aspen, or risk the diner in Wrickenridge and have everyone stare at us all evening."

"The movie sounds nice."

"With me?"

She drops her eyes, staring at our feet. I held my breath in anticipation. "I might risk it. Once. But I still don't like you much."

"Understood." I said holding back a smile, my whole body felt like it was glowing with happiness. I felt like I could sing out in joy, she said yes, she's giving me a chance!

"And this soulfinder stuff – I don't believe it. It leaves no room for choice, like some cosmic arranged marriage."

I grimaced, but I'll take it. One small baby step at a time. "We'll leave that aside for the moment then. One step. Go out with me?"

She hesitates and I hold my breath again, this is what it all came down to. "OK… I'll give you a chance."

I lifted her fingers to my mouth and gave them a playful nip before letting go. "Then it's a date."

I had a date. With Sky Bright, my soulfinder. _A date._

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**Boom! told you it'd be a long chapter. Hope you enjoy it! **

**Thanks for reading. xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello guys! If you didn't already gather, I've deleted the chapters from the short story due to copyright issues - I had a feeling I was going to have to take them down anyway so no harm done! The story now starts from after Zed finds how she's his soulfinder on the football pitch, but as I've said before - you may want to read Challenging Zed (the short story from Joss) if you haven't already to get the gist of the plot but if you're already on this chapter then this point is rather moot seeing as you've probably already read Challenging Zed and/or read the previous chapters before they were took down so I don't know why I'm writing this.**

**I would just like to say a thank you again to everyone reading this story, it means a lot to read through all your reviews.**

**This week has been a pretty productive one, I have gotten my mum into the Benedict series and she's going through the books like hotcakes! She's nearly finished with Stealing Phoenix and is about to start Seeking Crystal. A week well spent, I'd say.**

**To Rogue: Wow! I know Joss knew about this story because she's talked to me about it (so to speak) but I didn't know she mentioned it on her website, that's nice of her! :-)**

**Anyway, on to the chapter! I hope you enjoy it. Its going to be a short one again, but hopefully I'll be able to sneak another chapter to you all soon if all goes well.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, although I'm still figuring out how I can nab myself a Benedict brother without feeling the wrath of their soulfinders. I'll get back to you with a progress report. **

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**Chapter 6**

Once I dropped Sky off at her house, I sped home, unable to keep the grin off my face for longer than a few seconds. I had a date with my soulfinder, the thought made me want to stop the bike and do a victory jig.

I parked the bike in its usual place and walked into the house, still unable to take the grin off my face. I put my school bag on the hook next to the door and carried onto the kitchen for my usual afterschool coffee. As soon I poured the coffee into the mug, Yves and Xav walked in, glancing at me and smiling in a hello.

"Zed, could you make me one of those please?" Yves asked, unable to tell him to 'shove off and make his own' like I usually did, I got out a second mug and poured him a cup before sitting down at the table.

"So, Wolfman, how's the hunt coming along?" Xav asked with a glint in his eye. Ever since I told him about the nickname Sky has for me he's been unable to pass up the opportunity of calling me it since.

"Wolfman?" Yves sat down, looking at the both of us in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

Xav looked at me for permission to share the information with our brother, I gave him a slight nod, as they didn't find out that she was my soulfinder then I didn't care who knew about Sky and I. "Zed's on a hunt for a girl in Wrickenridge but she's got him put down as a villain in her thoughts – a… _Wolfman_, if you will."

"Let me guess, we're talking about Sky? 'The little Marilyn Monroe who can play piano like Oscar Peterson'?" He shot me a grin, obviously remembering back to the first conversation we had about her outside the music room. "Finally figured out your feelings towards her, Zed?"

"You could say that." I replied in amusement, glancing down at my mug.

"So I go back to the point at hand," Xav buts in, "how goes the hunt?"

I take a long sip out of my mug, prolonging the suspension. "Good. I have a date with her, it seems your advice to start fresh with her, Xav, was a good one. So thanks, man."

"Awesome! Do we get to meet her then?" Xav wiggles his eyebrows mischievously, "I can't wait to tell her all the embarrassing stories of when you were a child."

"Definitely not!" I laughed, taking another long gulp of my coffee before standing to throw the remains in the sink. "She's already met Yves and that's damage enough already – I'm not letting her anywhere near you, I'll never live it down."

"Hey! What do you mean 'that's damage enough'?" Yves looked offended which caused me to grin wider. "She likes me!"

"For reasons even I don't understand, brother." I teased, chuckling slightly as a lime shot towards me out of the fruit bowl and laughing as I stopped it mid air and sent it towards Yves with a flick of my wrist.

"Asshole." Yves muttered, rubbing his head.

I was still laughing by the sink as Mom and Dad walked into the kitchen. Mom's eyes lit up when she saw us all laughing together, obviously happy that my happy mood has seem to have stuck with me, looking back on the past couple of months I felt guilty over how badly I treated my family when I was slipping but there wasn't much I could do about it now apart from not turn back into the jerk I was and with Sky's help, there would be no chance of that ever happening to me again.

"Hello darlings, not up to mischief are we?" Mom asked good-heartedly, pausing on her way to the cupboard to give me a kiss on the cheek and to ruffle Xav's hair slightly.

"Not at all, Mom!" replied Yves, still shooting me glares.

She chuckled. "Somehow I find that a little hard to believe. Anyway, your brothers are expected to be home tomorrow for a long weekend visit and I was hoping we'd all go to the Arts Centre's reception together as a family, that would be nice wouldn't it?"

"That sounds like a great idea, sweetheart." Dad said, pulling up a chair at the table and placing his hands in front of him.

"Why are we going to the Arts Centre?"

"It's the opening night Wednesday and it would be nice to see how its turned out as well as welcome the new family into Wrickenridge, the Bright's I think they're called. Which reminds me, make sure you look smart, wouldn't want to give the Bright's a bad first impression."

Xav and Yves eyes turned to me, I had completely forgotten about the opening night, Sky was bound to be there all dressed up, I couldn't pass up on an opportunity like this.

"No," Xav said with a wry grin, "we wouldn't want that. Right, Zed?"

"Right." I agreed with a roll of the eyes, wishing Mom wasn't in the room so I could aim a lime at Xav.

"Speaking of the Bright family," Dad piped up, fixing his eyes on me, "wasn't the girl you had a premonition about from that household?"

Thanks, Dad, for bringing that up. I felt the remaining giddiness of my conversation with Sky drain out of me. "Yes, her name's Sky. I've been keeping an eye on her though."

"Wait," Yves looked shocked, the colour slowly draining from his face, "you had a premonition about her? What was it about?"

"I saw her being attacked. So all-in-all a pretty bad premonition." I muttered the last bit sarcastically.

"Have you managed to speak to her yet? I knew that was something you were planning on doing."

"Yeah, I managed to warn her not to go outside alone at night time. She took the advice to heart and has been avoiding going out alone when it's dark and wary when she does, but that's the best I can do at the moment." I will be able to do more when she trusts me, but that's a different problem entirely.

"Well at least she's warned, I'm proud of you, son. We'll all keep an eye on her as well so you're not alone - I'll have to talk to your brothers when they arrive tomorrow to keep an eye out for any signs of danger too. Better safe than sorry."

"Thanks." I muttered, not really sure on how to take this.

"Enough of this talk at the dinner table, the young girl shall be fine if all you boys are looking after her. Now, go upstairs and make sure you have a smart outfit for Wednesday, I don't want the time to come to see you all looking like slobs. I'll call you down when dinner is ready."

Mom shooed my brothers and I out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I still couldn't get the thought of Sky being knifed out of my head, the premonition playing on a loop, her screams tainting my thoughts and urging me to run out of the door and guard her house.

"Zed, she'll be alright you know. Nothing will harm her." Yves attempted to cheer me up and put my mind at ease, "She has all of us looking out for any signs of danger. Nothing will get past our defensives."

I brightened up at that, Yves was right. When we're all together nothing could get through our defensives, especially not some idiot with a knife. If it comes down to it then I can't wait to meet the guy who even thinks he's got a chance of hurting my Sky. I'd like to show him what would happen if he even laid a finger on her.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm just being overprotective."

"Of course I'm right." Yves scoffed, "Now get in your room and pick out an outfit for this damned Arts Centre thing. Mom will just about have our heads if she finds we haven't set clothes aside by the time she calls us down for dinner."

I chuckled as I walked into my room to my wardrobe, blocking the premonition from my mind and settling on happier thoughts as I looked through my clothes. I thought back to the conversation I had with Sky and a smile started to tug at the corners of my mouth. This Arts Centre thing was going to be better than I thought I just knew it.

* * *

**AN: Well, thats that. I couldn't figure out how to end this, took me 15 minutes to come up with the ending and I'm not that pleased with it, I may change it later on but whatever. Not my best chapter but it leads onto the opening night in the next one which would be more eventful-ish. **

**Thanks for reading! Chapters every Wednesday!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Boys! Are you ready? We're going to be late!" Mom yells from the bottom of the stairs.

I grab my jacket, thinking if its not too cold I'll leave it in the jeep and left my bedroom, joining Victor and Xav as they walked down the stairs.

"I don't know why you're so bothered about being late, Mom," Vic said, tugging at the tie he unwillingly put around his neck, "there's no set time for this thing."

"I don't want our family to appear rude to the new Bright family! We need to leave a good impression. Now, where's Trace? Yves, Will and Uriel are already in the kitchen with your father waiting to go, I do hope he hurries up."

"I'm here, I'm here." Trace mutters slinging a jacket over his shoulder and jogs down the stairs to join us at the bottom. "Are we all ready then? The Arts Centre better have a buffet on, I'm starved."

I was itching to get to the Arts Centre - itching to see Sky. It felt like forever since the last time I spoke to her, I had been keeping my distance from her during school, letting the information I told her settle in but I couldn't carry on with staying away from her. She's my soulfinder; we belong _together,_ not apart. I'm willing to wait for her to unlock her gift but I don't want to do that alone, I don't want her to be alone when she does it either. I want to be there when she does it, I want to see her reaction - to see her _feel _the powerful soulfinder connection, to see the newfound love in her eyes when she looks at me. I want to witness it all.

.

* * *

.

As soon as we arrived at the Arts Centre my eyes automatically scanned the room for Sky, my eyes fixing on her as she talked to Zoe. My breath caught in my throat, she looked beautiful. She was wearing a pale blue strapless dress that stopped short at the top of her knee, showing off her toned legs, and her blonde hair curling elegantly down her back only to be held up delicately at the front by jewelled combs. She lit up the whole room with her presence even as she tried to hide amongst the crowd. I couldn't take my eyes off her, I watched as Zoe noticed my family and said something to Sky, making her turn around and pierce me with her memorising dark blue eyes.

Dad turned to address us all, so I reluctantly took my eyes off Sky to listen to what Dad had to say.

"Remember, keep an eye out for the Bright girl, remember what she looks like and make sure she's not alone. We cannot allow anything to happen to her, especially given the warning that Zed's premonition gave us."

"Dad, nothing will happen to her here," Trace insisted, "not in such a public setting."

…_they looked like a team of superheroes, though the jury was still out on whether they were on the side of good or evil. _Smart girl, if only you knew, I thought as Sky's thoughts merged in with mine. _Zed looks really great in that black shirt and matching trousers. _

_Pants. _I corrected her, unable to keep the smile out of my voice or off my face.

"Still, we can't be too careful. You've seen the people we've dealt with in the past. We'll take no chances."

_I don't want to know about those. _Sky thought back to me. I couldn't believe it, she's embracing part of her Savant life!

I flicked my gaze towards her, raising an eyebrow teasingly, _Don't you?_

I watched her blush from across the room, which made my smile widen. I still couldn't get over how cute she was it was amusing to watch how the littlest things embarrassed her.

"Don't worry, Dad." Said Will, "We'll keep an eye out."

_Get out of my head. _

_I can't cut it out now that I've started. Has anyone told you that you could stop traffic in that dress?_

_Is that a good thing or a bad thing? _Sky asked hesitantly, still not believing that she was talking to a disembodied voice.

_Oh, it's good. Very, very good._

"Where is the little Bright girl anyway?" asked Xav with mischief in his eyes. "I want to meet her."

"Oh no you don't" I exclaimed, speaking for the first time. "We talked about this, Xav. It's bad enough that she knows Yves, it'll be catastrophic if she knew you too."

"You're just saying that because you feel I'll be an embarrassment to you." Xav pouted, pretending to be outraged.

"Yes, that's exactly why I'm saying this. I don't even have to use my gift to know that as soon as you meet her you'll find some way to add embarrassing childhood stories of me into the conversation."

"Well of course I would! Isn't that what big brothers are for?"

"Oh boys do be quiet." Mom said, looking at us both in amusement while the rest of the family looked a bit confused as to where this conversation had turned to, "Now, why don't you all go and enjoy the reception, but remember what your father said, keep an eye on dear Sky." We all nodded, "Go! Enjoy yourselves!"

Well, I didn't need to be told twice. I left my brothers and walked straight towards Sky. Zoe noticed me first and nudged Sky, mumbling something to her with a small grin causing her to turn around and look in my direction. I took this opportunity to grin at them both.

"Hi Zoe, Sky." I greeted politely.

"Zed." Zoe greeted, waving at somebody behind me – probably Yves, I heard that she had a crush on him, something I used to tease my brother about a lot. "Everyone home?"

"Yes, we had a bit of family business. You both look great." My eyes drifted back to Sky who was hidden slightly behind Zoe, looking shy.

Zoe swung her long hair over her shoulder, causing me to look back at her. "Thanks, Zed." She replied, even though the compliment wasn't necessarily for her but I wasn't going to tell her that – especially when I was trying to impress Sky. I had a feeling that insulting her friend wouldn't do well to stay in Sky's good books, "You don't look so bad yourself. I'm going to go and catch up with Yves. See you." She grinned a small knowing grin at Sky before slipping away and leaving us alone.

I moved slightly closer to Sky, obscuring her view of the rest of the room so she only saw _me._

"Hi, there." I said lowly.

"I thought we'd said hello already." _Wow, this boy was sending out heat._

"I said hi to both you and Zoe before. That one was just for you." I felt stupid as soon as I said that. It was weird, but being around Sky made me say the stupidest things.

"Oh." She bit her lip, hiding her laughter even though her eyes shone with it. "Hi."

"I wasn't joking when I said you look amazing." I couldn't help it, I reached over and brushed a loose curl back behind her ear. "Where did all this come from?"

"I keep it tied back at school. It can be a nuisance."

"I like it like this."

She snorted, "Well, you don't have to brush the tangles out of it each night."

"I'm more than happy to volunteer." I said, enjoying the shocked look that crossed her face.

"Oh."

"Yeah, _oh_." I said laughing, sliding my arm along her shoulders and hugging her to me, revelling in the touch, "Shall we go mingle?"

Sky groaned and leant her head back on my arm. "Do we have to have to?" She whined.

"Yep. I want you to meet my mom and dad."

Sky tensed under my arm. "Have you told them?" she whispered.

"No, I want you to be happy with the idea when we let them know. They'll be unbearable when I break the news." I was already cringing at the thought of Mom when she finds out that I have a soulfinder.

"What about your brothers? Can I meet them?"

I groan internally. "You can meet Yves as you know him already and the damage is done, but I want you to keep well away from the others." The thought of listening to Xav and Uri tell her embarrassing stories of when I was younger was physically painful and not something I wish to go through just yet.

"Why? Wouldn't they like me?"

I chuckled, thinking that was some punch line. "How can anyone not like you?" I stroked her arm reassuringly, "It's not that. It's just that they'll tell you all the most embarrassing stories about me and you'll never speak to me again."

Sky laughed. "I don't think that's very likely."

"No," I said looking down at her, smiling tenderly – a smile that I had never shown anyone before, not even my mother. "I don't think so either."

We paused by Mr Keneally, joining in the applause as he finished his set on the piano. Mr Keneally acknowledged his audience then frowned when he saw that I was with Sky. Thinking of ways to separate us.

"Would you like to play, Sky?" he asked hopefully, my arm tightened around Sky's shoulders as I bit back a retort for our music teacher. Be polite, Zed, I thought to myself.

"No thanks, sir. Not tonight."

"Would you like me to get you a drink, sir?" I ask politely, biting back a grin when Keneally did a double take.

"That's very kind of you." He looked at us again. "Glad to see she's a good influence on you."

"Early days yet." Murmured Sky, I squeezed her shoulder gently, chuckling.

"I'll have a soda – a coke." The music teacher requested.

"Coming right up." I dropped my hand from Sky's shoulder, "Be right back." I said before searching for a waiter with the drinks. I could sense the amusement radiating off Sky – she thought my effort to be polite was amusing especially when she knew I was doing it to impress her.

I eventually found the waiter with the drinks and grabbed a coke off him with a quick thanks before rushing back to where I left Sky.

I handed the glass to the teacher. "One coke, sir. Ready to move on, Sky?"

She nodded. "Yes. Bye, sir."

The teacher shot Sky a worried smile before turning to look at me. "Thanks for the drink, Zed."

He sat back down as Sky and I started to walk away. Mahler's Funeral March's melody started to fill the air and I snorted, amused at the music teachers sense of humour.

I leant in towards Sky, "Message for me?"

"Or me. People can't work out why we're together."

"Can't work out why I've got the prettiest girl in the room with me? Then they've no imagination." I laughed as she blushed a pretty pink and brushed a thumb gently over her flushed cheeks. "You are the definition of sweet, you know that?"

"I hope that's a compliment."

"Meant to be. I knew it even when I gave you that warning – you know, about going out after dark? You listened, didn't you?" She nodded, looking uncomfortable.

I smiled gently, tickling her neck slightly with a strand of her blonde locks. "I was so full of resentment that I had to do it because of my dream – I'm still worried about that – but even then, it did filter through that you were kinda cute."

Sky scoffed. "You never showed it."

My lips curled at the irony. "I do have an image to maintain, you know. I think I might've fallen for you that day in the parking lot. There's nothing sexier than an angry woman." I teased.

"Cute and sexy?" Her voice was filled with disbelief, "I'm not like that."

"Sure you are." I said cheerfully, "If I'm a tuning fork, you're the perfect A, making me hum."

"Zed, ssh!" Sky hissed, her face turning even pinker – she was getting flustered.

"What, you don't like compliments?"

"Of course I do – I just don't know what to do with them!"

I grin, unable to pass the opportunity up. "It's easy! You just say:" I put on the fake English accent I knew she hated, "Why thank you, Zed – that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Will you stop putting on that fake English accent – it so doesn't work!" She hissed at me.

I through my head back with laughter, drawing many eyes to us but I was beyond caring as I swooped down to grab her hand and kissed her palm. "You are just great. You know, I can't understand why I was so slow to realise what was going on with you."

_I not ready to talk about feelings yet_. "These dreams of yours – do they always come true?"

I frowned, her thoughts and the subject change sobering up my humour. "One way or another. Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to you. I'm going to take very good care of you, Sky." I promise.

"Y..you know, Tina doesn't think you're my type." Sky changed the subject again, gesturing across the room to where Tina was chatting happily to her mom.

"Oh?" I said amusedly, wondering where this conversation would take us. "And your type would be?"

"Tina's opinion or mine?"

"Yours." Hers was the most important after all; I couldn't care less what Tina thought Sky's type would be. I watched as she smiled down at her shoes, almost shyly and I felt a wave of nervousness shoot through me before looked up and glanced at me.

"Right now, my type seems to be tall, arrogant, angry and secretly really kind." My heart swelled with joy, I looked down at her and grinned.

"Nope, nobody I know."

"Sky, isn't it?" I almost groaned at the sound of my dad's voice. Trust him to pick now of all moments to interrupt us. "How are you?" he asked taking Sky's hand in his large palm and holding it gently for a moment. Mom was stood next to him, looking at me excitedly as if she shared a secret of mine, which unsettled me to no end.

_Something going on between you and dear Sky that we don't know about honey? _Mom asked in my head. _Something more than first premonition warnings?_

Mom was teasing me; I saw it in her eyes. I knew she saw something more in my friendship with Sky, I just hope she doesn't put two and two together and realise we're soulfinders otherwise Sky would do what she does best and run for the hills.

I chose to purposely ignore my moms voice in my head, which caused her smile to stretch as she introduced herself to Sky.

"Sky." Mom murmured softly, patting my soulfinders wrist and giving her a warm smile.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Benedict." Sky answered politely.

"Our boy apologized to you yet for how he spoke to you at the river?"

Sky _glanced_ at me, giving me a small smile. "In his own way."

"I see you understand him. I'm so pleased. It's difficult for him." Mom touched her cheek lightly, her eyes growing misty. Shit."But you – you've seen these things too – lived them, which is much worse. I'm so sorry."

Sky's breathing hitched. "Mom_,_"I warned. "Stop it." _You're scaring her, please stop it. _I added into mom's head.

Mom turned to look at me. "I can't help but see."

"Yes you can." I managed to grind out through gritted teeth, what was I thinking, letting Sky come anywhere near my mom?

"So much sadness so young."

_Dad, get her out of here. Please, she's scaring Sky. _I pleaded to my father, not liking the expression on Sky's face right now. _Run! _Her expression said, mixing in with her thoughts, _Run away and don't look back! They're learning to much, letting people in hurts. Run! _It scared me.

Dad nodded slightly to me and started to herd Mom away from us. "Karla, Sky is here to enjoy herself. Come visit us anytime, Sky. You'll always be welcome" Yeah, like that was going to happen now, not if Sky had anything to do with it.

"I-uh, Sorry about that." I tugged at my collar awkwardly. "Shall we get some fresh air?" I was desperate to get Sky out of the public eyes before she broke down.

"She's like you." Her voice was trembling, like she was fighting back tears. "She as reading me – getting too much like you do."

"Hush now." I said soothingly, stepping closer to her to shield her from the rest of the guests. "Don't think about it."

"What am I? An open book or something?"

"It's not like that. It's not just you."

"I think I'd like to go home now."

"I'll drive you back."

"No, it's OK. I'll get Tina to take me." _Right now I don't want to be near any of the Benedicts._

That thought stung but I wasn't going to let it get to me, she was hurting. "It's not OK. If you want to go, I'm the one who's going to take you. You're my responsibility now. I've got to keep you safe."

Sky started to back away. "Just leave me alone. Please." Then all of a sudden saint Tina came to save the day, I thought angrily.

"What's the matter, Sky?" I wish just once that Tina would keep her nose out of everyone's – especially mine and Sky's – business but telling Tina that right now would not help my chances in taking Sky home so I bit my tongue (quite hard) and looked at Sky.

"I… I'm not feeling well."

I stepped between Sky and Tina. "I was just about to drive her home."

"I can take her," Tina said swiftly. Like that was going to happen, Tina.

"No need. She's with me. I'll look after her." I ground out. I was angry. Angry at myself, angry at Tina, angry at my parents and angry at Sky for trying to run away from me. I'm trying my hardest but no matter how hard I try I still manage to mess this soulfinder stuff up.

"Sky?" asked Tina.

Sky hugged her arms to her waist, something she did when she felt insecure and upset. I could tell she was uncomfortable. "Zed'll take me. I'll just go tell my parents."

Sky and I walked over to her mom and dad who looked at her with concern, realising something was wrong with her daughter and agreeing she shouldn't be here when she wasn't feeling up to it. Her dad sized me up coldly, his thoughts silent warnings of what would happen if I so much laid a finger on her daughter, which would've been intimidating if I didn't just want to get Sky home quickly.

I quickly grabbed the keys for the jeep off Dad; ignoring the apologetic looks I got off him and my Mom, and walked Sky to the jeep.

"Your dad does that well." I noted, starting the ignition.

"What?" She mumbled tiredly, letting her head flop against the side window.

"Do the ball breaker thing. He was letting me know that if I put a finger on his little girl, I'm already dead." Sky gave a hiccupping laugh and I felt the tension leave my body with relief as I heard that sound.

"Yeah, he does get a bit protective." _A lot like Zed. _I smiled at the thought, but let it go – she doesn't need to talk about us right now. Not yet.

"Why do you call them by their first names?" I wondered out loud, it was something I've wanted to ask for a while but never knew how to bring it up.

"I've only been with them since I was ten. We all agreed we were more comfortable with first names. They felt they were too old to start as Mummy and Daddy."

"You agreed or they suggested?" I could tell I hit the mark spot on.

"I was fine with it."

I let it go, it wasn't worth arguing over. "My mom – she does that to people. What can I say? Sorry?" I didn't know what I could say to make this better. I was terribly sorry that my Mom had spooked her and upset her in the way she did but I couldn't promise that it wouldn't happen again, my Mom was like me - she can't control her gift which brought me back to the dilemma on how I could fix this with Sky.

"Not your fault."

"I took you over to them. I should've headed her off. Don't let what she said worry you."

"Its just not… not nice thinking someone can sense stuff about you."

"You don't have to tell me – I live in the same house as her."

Sky brightened up at that. "She can see stuff about you too?"

"Oh yeah. Being a Benedict is no bed of roses."

I parked outside of her house. Her porch lamp was on but apart from that everything was dark. _I'm not too keen on going in along but I don't want Zed to think I was making him a different kind of invitation. _

I smirk slightly, "So we'll keep it in the car then. Just one small step," I told her before I bit the bullet and leant in towards her to lightly graze my lips against hers. My whole body felt alive at the sensation. I deepened the kiss slightly, sinking into feeling of our lips touching – it felt as if we were melding together, the barriers she put up around me slowly crumbling to the ground until they were no more to reveal something magical. Far too soon, I forced myself to pull away from her and sit back in my seat. "Where's your dad? Am I dead yet?"

"That wasn't a finger. You said my dad only thought about a finger." She answered breathlessly.

I chuckled, my body still humming from the kiss. I trailed my fingers down her shoulders drinking in her appearance once more, "Sorry, I just had to do that. The dress should be outlawed."

"Hmm." She breathed, _Zed Benedict was kissing me – how could this possibly be real?_

"Yeah, I really, really like you, Sky. But if I don't stop now, your dad _will_ kill me and that will be the end of a beautiful friendship." I couldn't help it, I leant in for one last kiss before I pushed away and jumped out the car, walking over to unlock Sky's and helping her out. "I'll just go turn some lights on then head back to the party." Not that I was looking forward to going back, I knew for a fact that as soon as I stepped foot back into the Arts Centre I would have Tina bombarding me with questions and that was something I'd prefer to avoid for tonight.

"Thanks. I don't like going into an empty house." She admitted sheepishly.

"I know." I slid the Sky out of her hand and opened the door, flicking on the lights in her house and checking that everywhere was safe before coming to stand next to her near the porch, jingling my keys and unwilling to leave.

"I don't like leaving you alone. Promise not to go out?"

"I promise."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine."

"And sorry again about Mom. If it's any comfort, her sister, Aunt Loretta, is worse."

Sky shuddered. "Really?"

"Yeah. Hard to imagine, isn't it? Keep clear of our house at Thanksgiving – they're an unstoppable combination." I drew Sky close me and kissed the tip of her nose. "Goodnight, Sky." I caressed her cheek gently.

"Goodnight." She breathed, hand still lingering on her cheek, I stepped back.

"Make sure you lock the door behind me."

I watched as she locked the door behind me before I walked back to the jeep, thoughts of going back to the party were long gone as I settled back into the jeeps drivers seat and concentrated on my dad.

_I'm keeping an eye on Sky until her parents get back._ I told my dad.

_OK son, your mother and I are sorry about what happened. We'll make our way back home. See you soon._

* * *

**AN: Yes, yes. I know. I suck. I'm sorry this is late, but its a long chapter right? Does that mean I'm forgiven? I do have a good reason for not putting the chapter up and it pretty much revolves around sleep so I'm just going to say I'm sorry and ignore the irony of the reason why I was late putting the chapter up when its 2am in the morning. (ugh, I should really have a bedtime.)**

**I'll admit, writing this while watching LOTR is probably one of the hardest things ever. So distracting. I kept wanting to change the story into LOTR themed. Zed taking the ring to Mordor and finding Sky along the way - realising their love for one another as they fight for their lives and overcome the obstacles in their path. Alas, this is the chapter, no orcs or magical rings and their bearers I'm afraid. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Tell me what you thought of it and whatnot, updates every Wednesday's (unless the lazy me overpowers)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Winter had just started to kick into gear with its first light snowfall of the year. I thought of Sky and what she would think of it – what with it being her first snowfall in a different country. That's been happening a lot lately, me thinking about Sky. I couldn't help it, every little thing reminded me of her. Xav and Yves saw this instantly and the former didn't hesitate to call me out on my 'whipped' behaviour - there just wasn't enough fruit in the world to throw at him. I sat down on the sofa in the living room and switched on the TV, letting my mind wander back to the past couple of days.

Ever since the Arts Centre opening night the Wrickenridge High gossip machine was working in full-force - much to my dismay – trying to uncover what was happening between Sky and I. I wish they wouldn't, I'd prefer it if they kept their noses out of my business, but I knew not to get my hopes up. Besides, I had other more pressing issues to worry about, like Sky. No matter how much I insisted that we sit down and talk about our situation she wouldn't have it; she'd change the subject or make a sudden bolt–all of which lead me feeling frustrated and down right angry. How could I protect her from what's out there if she won't let try and explain to her this whole other world she's just been thrown headfirst into?

Still, I couldn't complain that much, especially when I compared where I am now to where I was a couple weeks ago, Sky has finally admitted that we're dating, which is a huge step up from her hating me. She still doesn't believe the whole Savants and Soulfinders agenda but slow progress is better then no progress! At least… that was what I was telling impatient side. I thought back to the conversation I had with Sean when he caught wind of the rumours.

_I drove into the parking lot of Wrickenridge High School and parked my bike next to Sean who was already here waiting for me._

_"Hey." I nodded to him as I got off my bike and fixed my bag strap across my shoulder._

_"What's this I hear about you and the British chick, eh? Rumour has it that you two are a bit of an item." Sean raises an eyebrow at me._

_I glowered at 'British chick', "Her name is Sky - you know that. So what if we're an 'item' as you called it, do you have a problem with that?" I challenged him; I refused to feel guilty over my relationship with Sky. She's the best thing that happened to me (not that I would tell him that) and I would be damned if I let him look down on me for it._

_He backed down instantly. "Nah man, its just – you don't really go for girls like her, I knew you said you were after her but I just thought that was a passing fancy not that you'd actually date her."_

_"I know I don't really go for girls like her, but look how well those turn out? And who says we're actually dating?" _

_"Sky does, I hear when people ask her on the subject she insists that you two are just 'going out'."_

_I couldn't stop the grin even if I tried – which I didn't. "She did?"_

_Sean groans, "Just look at you! You're smitten! God, what's happened to you Zed? You used to be so indifferent with girls, now look at you!"_

_"I am not smitten!" _

_"Yes, you are. I can't believe it only took a blonde English babe with a feisty temper to make you settle down."_

_If only he knew the most of it. "Well, what can I say? There's nothing sexier than an angry chick." I smirk at him. Sean grinned at me in return._

_"Now there's the Zed I know! Speaking of angry chicks – you never told me Hannah's a feisty one."_

_"I thought it was assumed." I said dryly, enjoying the fact that Hannah was still a distraction for Sean._

_"Well a heads up would've been nice. Not like it wasn't a good shock though, major turn on and those legs-" _

_"OK, I'm going to stop you there, Sean and head to class. Try keep it in your pants, will ya?"_

_I walked towards my History class, ignoring the bark of laughter from Sean who was still stood next to his bike. "You're one to talk, Benedict! Don't worry though, I'll make sure I warn the English chick for ya." I just laughed, pausing to only turn around to flip him off before carrying on my way to class._

That was the first time I heard Sky say we were dating, I didn't even care that it didn't come out of her mouth directly – to know that she was asked about us she tells them what we are dating. A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth as I look at the TV. _We're dating._ God, Sean was right – I am smitten, but I couldn't guess I was going to grow more attached with her now I can spend more time with her.

Which brings me onto the next problem: How can I persuade Sky to sit down and give this whole Savant/Soulfinder lifestyle a chance? To believe that its true… maybe if I take her to places where I am in my natural habitat, so she could understand me a lot and maybe see what I was trying to get at when I tried to sit down and explain to her the life she's been thrown into.

I wonder if she would consider coming here for a few hours? I mean, its just Xav, dad and I. Moms away in Denver with my brothers and Yves is away at some smart-ass convention… it was perfect. I might as well ask, the worst she could say is no anyway. Either way I was going to see her tonight, I decided. I threw on a jacket and grabbed the keys to the jeep and set off to her house planning to check in on the way.

_Sky, are you OK?_

_Zed? Where are you? _

_At home. Do you want to come over?_

_How did you…? No, wait: how are talking like this, so far apart?_

I chuckle. _We just can. Do you want to come?_

I felt her hesitation in the bond, so I quickly reassured her, _Mom's in Denver. Yves's at some Young Einstein of the Year convention, it's just me, Dad and Xav._

_OK I'll come over. You're up by the cable car, right? I think I can find you._

_No! _I don't want her going out on her own – especially because of me. _I don't want you out alone–it's getting dark. I'll come get you._

_I'm not afraid of the dark, Zed._

_I am. Humour me._ I shut the conversation off giving her no choice but to wait for me to pick her up.

Around ten minutes later I pulled up outside Sky's house, watching as she jogs outside the house and locks the door before she runs towards the jeep.

"You must've broken every traffic law to get here so fast!" Sky says as a greeting.

I give her a smooth smile as I opened her door for her. "I was already on the way when I called in."

"You think that's calling in?" Sky scoffed, climbing into the passenger seat and shutting the door. "You could use a cell-phone like regular people."

I turned the car around and started to head back home. "The reception's bad out here – too many mountains." I said as an explanation with a shrug.

"That's the only reason?"

A grin tugged at the corners at my mouth, dang, she caught me. "No. It brings you, well, _closer_."

_I'd have to think about that one. _"Do you talk to anyone else this way?"

"My family. We've the lowest phone bills in the valley."

Sky laughed, causing me to smile. "Can you talk to your brothers in Denver?"

I slid my right arm along the back of the passenger seat, unable to resist brushing the nape of her neck with my fingers. "Why all the questions?"

"Well, sorry to break it to you, Zed, but it's not exactly normal."

"It is for us." I turned the jeep up the tracks running to my house, slowing the car down as I went, "I'm going to pull over."

Sky looked alarmed. "Why? What's the matter?"

"Nothing." I parked the car and turned towards her. "Nothing's wrong, it's just I doubt if we'll have a chance to be alone when we arrive at the house – especially when Xav realises you're here – so I just wanted to sneak a kiss before we go in." I flashed a grin at her.

My teasing quickly turned to concern when I watched her move back a little, creating more space between us. "Zed, is this real?" Sky asked in a small voice, "You wanting to be with me?"

I smile tenderly, unfastening her seat belt and pulling her close to me. "It most definitely is. You are everything I want – everything I _need._"

"I still don't understand."

I rest my forehead against hers, our breaths mingling together as well as sliding my hands around her back. "I know you don't. I'm trying to give you the time you need, let you get to know me enough so you can trust me, trust _this._" I tugged her closer for emphasis.

"And the kissing?"

I chuckled. "I have to admit that's for me. I'm selfish that way." I pressed my lips lightly against hers before pulling away from her and starting the car again.

* * *

Dad met us outside the house, wearing his work overalls and carrying a toolbox, which made me think he's been out scratching off jobs from his to-do list for the cable car.

"There you are, Zed." Dad greeted, he wiped his greasy hands on a rag he carried around with his toolbox. "I saw you coming."

My good mood disappeared - I was beyond pissed. "Dad!"

Dad waved my annoyance off, "You know we can't control these things unless we concentrate. You forgot to shield." Still, not fucking cool, Dad. That was _private. _"Sky, nice to see you again. I don't think we were properly introduced: I'm Saul Benedict."

To make matters worse, Xav thought this would be the perfect time to come jogging round the house to great Sky. "Hi!"

"Not you too." I groaned, just wanting to dig a hole, grab Sky and climb in.

"What? Why?"

"Dad _saw _Sky and me."

Xav held up both of his hands, trying – without success – to hold back his laughter. "Innocent. I wasn't anywhere near your mind, though I can guess what went on." He gave me a flirtatious wink that made me want to punch him.

"Don't even go there, Xav." I warned.

"What does he mean, about being 'near your mind'?" Sky asked suspiciously looking around at the three of us – looking for the one she'd feel would crack first – before her eyes settled on mine.

Ah, how could I explain to Sky what I meant without letting Dad and Xav know that I told her about Savants? It was nice watching my Dad's neck flush when he realised he was the one that walked us all into this.

Sky raised her eyebrows at me. "Were you _talking _to him when we were driving?"

"She knows about that?" Dad said in a low voice, a voice that only Xav and I would hear the warning in. "How come?"

_You're in shit, bro. Choose your next words wisely. _Xav whispered into my head.

I shrugged, faking casualness. "It just happened. You heard what Mom said about her – she's a bridge. It's hard not to step over."

Sky glanced at me in confusion, but I ignored it – I had my dad's wrath to avoid.

Saul waved Sky to go ahead of him into the house. "My son talk to you in your mind, Sky?"

"Um… maybe?"

_She's a savant?_ Dad asked me.

_Yes. She didn't know about it until I came across her._

"You've not told anyone else?"

"Well, no. It sounds a bit screwy." I smiled at her choice of words, dad looked relieved.

"We'd prefer people not to know about it so I'd really appreciate it if you kept it to yourself."

Sky shrugged. "Fine by me."

"You don't have a problem with it?"

"Yes, but I'm more worried when Zed seems to know what I'm thinking even before I do." _Not to mention the Soulfinder thing. _Sky looked up and grinned at me, which I returned.

Dad smiled. "Yes, we all feel that way about Zed. He never did buy the Santa-down-the-chimney story when he was small. But you learn to live with it."

"Well, in all fairness you didn't really sell the whole Santa thing with much persuasiveness." I muttered under my breath.

I sped up my steps so I was walking side-by-side with Sky. She took a long look around the house before taking a peek around one of the corners where we kept all the Ski gear.

"Wow." She breathed, taking in all the equipment in awe.

Dad looked where she was looking and chuckled. "Yes, we are serious about our skiing, though Zed here prefers to board."

"Public enemy number one." Xav commented pretending to shoot me in the chest, feeling my good mood start to return I decided to play along and pretend that I was shot. My brother grinned, pleased.

"Boarders and skiers don't get on?"

"Not all the time." Replied Dad. "Do you ski?"

_Ha! Me? Ski? _"You don't?" I was shocked, but then again I don't know why – London doesn't really look like somewhere you can ski.

"England isn't exactly known for its powder snow."

"Dad, we have an emergency. Intensive lessons starting from the first fall."

"You bet." Dad gave Sky a business-like nod.

"I-I don't think I'll be very good at it."

Dad, Xav and I looked at each other before dipping into the future slightly. I got flashes of Sky falling over on the baby ramps – a lot, and Sky sliding about clueless on her Skis. The sight was hilarious.

Xav snorted with laughter. "Yeah, right."

_Oi, quit it Xav. _

Sky looked at the three of us like we'd all lost our minds, "What is it you're doing here?"

"Just looking ahead, Sky." Dad replied, ushering her into the kitchen. "Come into the kitchen, Karla's left pizza for us."

Once we were in the kitchen dad started to dish out jobs to the family, saying if we all worked together, the quicker we could eat. Dad took command of the salad, put Xav in charge of setting up the dinner table and me in charge of the oven after Xav kindly put it that even I couldn't ruin a pizza – he obviously has high hopes for me.

Xav sat down next to Sky to explain. "His" he flung his hand in my direction, "problem is that he sees the food already burnt and can't be bothered to change things."

Xav put his feet up on the empty chair opposite him and rubbed his calf muscles. "How's one going to be, Zed?"

"This ones going to be the best ever." I replied confidently, slinging the baking sheet into stove before wiping my hands on the dishcloth.

"So, Sky," Xav turned the conversation back to Sky, "how you finding school? Other students a pain in the butt, I bet?"

I knew my brother was coyly talking about me even before he threw the pretzel. "Asshole." I mutter under my breath.

"It's OK. Bit different from what I'm used to."

"Yeah, but Wrickenridge is way better than lots of high schools. Most kids go on to do what they want after they finish."

Sky took a handful of snacks from the bowl on the table. "What about you? I was told you're good at slalom. Olympic standard good." Don't boost his ego, Sky. We won't hear the end of it if you do.

Xav faked nonchalance; I could see it in the way his shoulders tensed as he shrugged. The whole family knew how much Xav wanted to take skiing further, just like how I wanted to take baseball to the next level and how Yves wanted to present his knowledge to people outside of the Net – but we knew we couldn't, it was dangerous for Savants to become well known – we have to keep a low profile, for our families sakes if not our own.

"Could be – but I don't think I'll take it that far."

"Is it because you can see yourself failing and can't be bothered to change it?" Sky challenged.

"Ouch!" whooped Xav, "Hey, Zed, your girl here has a mean streak. Getting me back for ribbing you about your cooking."

"Good for her." I give her an approving nod. "Don't listen to any off his bull, Sky. I can cook."

"Yeah," Xav scoffed, "like Sky can ski."

My eyes flickered towards the fruit bowl on the counter, with a little telekinesis I had lemon fly and hit my older brother squarely. That'll teach him.

Sky jumped in her seat, shocked. "What the–!"

"Zed!" barked Dad. "We have a guest."

Sky was still questioning what she had just seen – even though Dad just ratted me out. "You've got a… poltergeist or something?" she asked, her eyes hesitantly looking around the room for more flying citrus fruits.

"Yeah. Or something." Xav rubbed his nose.

"Is anyone going to explain that or?" She looked to Xav.

"Not me. What were we talking about before I was so rudely interrupted by a flying citrus?" He chucked the lemon back towards me, hoping for a hit, when my back was turned but my gift alerted me causing me to stop it halfway – having it drop right back into the bowl. "Butt-head," grumbled Xav. I grinned triumphantly.

"Um… we were talking about your skiing." I could feel Sky's curious eyes on my back while I wiped down the work surface.

"Oh yeah, well, I don't think I'll go on the professional skier route. Got too much else I want to do with my life."

"I can imagine." _I'm not sure he means that, it sounds like an excuse to me. _She's more observant than I thought.

"I'm stopping as Colorado junior champion and retiring undefeated."

"And never lets us forget it," I drawled, still wiping down the counter.

I knew what Xav was going to do so before my gift alerted me. We both mentally grabbed the lemon in the fruit bowl, tugging it from side to side until it couldn't take the force anymore and exploded.

Dad slammed his hands on the counter, "Boys!"

"Sorry." We answered dutifully, Xav got up from his seat next to Sky to clean up the mess.

"No explanation, right?" Sky asked, amused. _These Benedicts are strange, but at the moment I just feel like laughing._

"Nope, not from me. _He's _going to tell you." Xav chucked the rag at me. "Later."

He sniffed the air and I realised there was a faint smell of burnt pizza, oh well. He made a sudden dash to the stove, getting the oven gloves out and putting the pizza on the side. "Sheesh, Zed! You've let it burn! I thought you said this was going to be the best yet."

It was only blackened; he was such a drama queen. "It is. Only singed, you've got to admit I'm improving."

Xav clipped me round the head. "What's the use of being a know-it-all when you cant even cook pizza?"

I laughed it off as I got out the pizza slicer. "I ask myself that every day."

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**A/N: BOOM!**

**Thank you to Issy and Danielle(bookwormlove14) for help with this chapter **

**(Issy: Thank you for your review it really did interest me so I decided to give it a shot)**

**I'm not that happy with this chapter which is why I've been a little bit hesitant to upload this chapter. So, sorry about that.**

**Also: I'm late - I know. Usually I'm good with deadlines but hm, obviously not when it comes to uploading stuff.**

**Thanks for reading - tell me what you think!**

**Updates between Wednesday-Friday.**


	9. Chapter 9

**aleloujah: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! one thing you should know about me, I'm approximately 10 minutes late for everything. ...or in this case, 4 days.**

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**Chapter 9**

"Hey," I tugged Sky towards me once she put her plate in the sink, "come take a walk with me."

"A walk where?"

"Up on the Ski-runs, there's a place I want to show you."

I grabbed Sky's coat, "Xav's got clear-up duty seeing as I cooked so we're free."

"Cooked? Is that what you did?" Sky teased, allowing me to help her into her coat.

I chuckled. "OK. Charred."

Taking her hand, I led her out of the back door, "Up or down?" I asked, gesturing to the slopes.

_Best to get the worst over with. _"Up first."

"Good choice! I've a favourite place I want to show you."

We passed under the trees, taking the slope slowly in comfortable silence. I tried to leave Sky alone to her thoughts but it was hard when her thoughts were just so captivating. She marvelled over the beauty of nature – something I thought I wouldn't give a crap about but the way she described it made me look around like I was looking at the surroundings in a new light. We edged up the slope a little higher when winter started to make its claim, sticking to the branches and shallow patches on the ground making Sky look around in shock.

"Snow doesn't stay lower down till around Thanksgiving." I explained to her; understanding flooded across Sky's face and we continued the walk, hands entwined, in silence.

The snow was now ankle-deep; occasionally I had to shake snow off my boots. "I should've thought," mumbled Sky, bringing my attention back to her as she kicked a clump of ice off her canvas toe cap before it melted through. Damn. Her feet must be soaking.

"My sight isn't much help for practical stuff like that – sorry. Shoulda told you to bring boots."

_He's one strange boy sometimes. _"So, what powers do you think you have, aside from the telepathy thing?"

'Do you think you have'? So even after all the proof she's been given she's still doubting me. "Various, but mainly I can see the future." I paused at a particularly beautiful spot, a clearing in the forest where the snow was untouched, an idea sparked in my mind. "Wanna make an angel?"

I smirked at Sky's reaction at the subject change. "You go ahead. Don't let me stop you."

My smirk turned into a grin as I tumbled back into the deep snow, letting it surround me before waving my arms and legs to make an angel shape. "Come on – I know you're going to."

Sky looked doubtful. "Because you can see?"

I gave Sky a mischievous grin, "Nope. Because I'm going to do this."

Before Sky could reply I sat up quickly and tugged her down beside me in the snow.

_Well, now I was here, I had to make an angel. _Success!

Once she made her angel we laid in the snow for a while. Sky looking up at the stars that were peeping out between the trees and I was looking at her – waiting for her to take another step towards the savant life… and me.

"So, what can you see?"

"Not everything and not all the time. I can't 'see' my family's future, or only rarely. We're too close – there's too much inference, too many variables."

"Do they do the same thing?"

"Only Mom, thankfully." I sat up, brushing the snow from my upper body. "The rest have other gifts."

"You've seen my future? In that premonition?"

I rubbed a hand over my face. I seriously did not want to get into that. "Maybe." I drew out the word painfully. "But if I tell you exactly what I saw, I might either change things or be the reason it happens – I can't know that for sure. My sight gets more precise the closer I am to an event. I only know with any certainty something is going to happen a second or two before it does. Yet it can go really wrong. That's what happened in the raft – by interfering I helped cause what I was trying to stop."

"So you won't tell me if I'm going to be a good skier?"

I shook my head and tapped her forehead. "No, not even that."

"Good. I think I'd prefer not to know."

"What's it like? How… how can you bear knowing so much?" Sky asked softly. _He was my opposite in many ways: I knew so little about myself, about the past; he knew too much about the future._

I got up and pulled Sky to her feet, keeping a hold of her hands. "Most days, it's a curse. I know what people are going to say, how the film will end, what the score's going to be. My brothers don't really understand, or don't want to think about what it's like. We've all got our own gifts to handle."

Understanding shone on Sky's face and I saw in her thoughts that she really did understand – more than my actual brothers understood. She understood why I had trouble meeting new people, how I was always weighed down by my premonitions and not being able to change them. She understood everything. I felt a wave a gratitude for Sky and couldn't help putting an arm around her, tucking her under my shoulder.

"This is all too weird."

I gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Yeah, I get that. But I need you to understand. You see, Sky, it's like, I dunno, I suppose a bit like being in a life with muzak." I tried to explain. "It's playing away in the background but you don't really notice until you pay attention. But from time to time, I get a sudden trumpet burst of things. Scenes play out. I don't always know the people or understand what they mean. Not until later anyway I may try and stop things but they usually just happen in a way I didn't anticipate. I try to block it out – I can for a time – but once I forget it comes back twice as strong."

I glanced a look at Sky to see that she started to look at me in pity, I didn't want her to look at me like that, or feel that way towards me until the pity went and was replaced with something else. Before I could open my mouth, she started yelling.

"You bloody cheater!" She elbowed me in the ribs. "No wonder you are unbeatable when you pitch or kick goals!"

I had to stop myself from laughing, out of everything I just told her that's the part she zones in on? "Yeah, it does have that fringe benefit." I turned fully to look at her and smirked. "Helped you out, didn't it?" I said remembering back to the fluke save.

"Oh." She was obviously thinking back to that day too.

"Yeah, _oh_. I sacrificed my perfect goal scoring record for you."

Sky scoffed. "Hardly – you scored, like twenty or something."

"No, really. What are people gonna remember about that match? That I scored loads or that you saved that one? I'm never gonna live it down."

"Idiot." She swatted at me.

I laughed, that was twice she had hit me now. "That's done it. I'll have to distract you again before you hit me a second time."

I leant forward to steal a kiss off her when my gift alerted me to something that had me lunging, knocking Sky to the floor as I went. I saw a flash of a gun and a finger pulling the trigger and the bullet flying in a comic book like fashion – heading towards us. Sure enough a couple seconds after Sky and I had dropped to the floor the bullet hit the tree trunk five feet away from us – where my head would have been – splintering the bark. "Shit!"

I did the only thing I could think of to keep us save and dragged Sky behind a fallen trunk, pushing her under and shielding her with my body. "This isn't supposed to be happening!"

_Dad! Xav! _

"Get off me! What was that?" Sky tried to shove me off her.

"Stay down! Fucking hell, Sky. Just please stay down – someone took a shot at us. I'm getting Dad and Xav"

_Zed? _Xav's voice entered my mind, alert and serious.

_Zed, what's wrong? _Dad's voice soon followed.

_There's someone in the woods shooting at us. We're in the small clearing near the bottom of the slopes. _

_We're on our way. _Dad shot into my head. _Stay safe, son._

_You too._

Crack! A second shot struck the trunk not far above our heads. It was time to move.

"Right, we've got to move! Roll out the other side of the trunk and run for the big pine cover over there."

"Why don't we just shout to tell them that they're shooting at humans?"

"He's not hunting animals, Sky, he's after us. Go!"

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**AN: Boom.**

**Thanks for reading, make sure to review**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Is this 2 chapters? In 1 day? (it may be after midnight but its still 1 day ok, I don't care) Is she feeling okay? Bet you all thought i'd be late again but HA! PROVED YOU ALL WRONG NOW DIDN'T I.**

**If you could see me now, I'm currently doing a "na, na, nana na." victory dance and pointing at my laptop screen in victory.**

**zoe dimou: don't be silly! i love getting reviews off you, they make me smile! i hope this is what you meant by soon :) **

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**Chapter 10**

I watched Sky slide from underneath me, scrambling up and running to where I pointed out. It was kind of surreal, running like this, so unaware and with our pants down so to speak, we usually are armed when stuff like this happened; bulletproof vests, guns of our own – even though we were being shot at, I still felt safe. But this was different, this was my soulfinders life on the line, I had only just got her, I couldn't bear it if I lost her. I won't lose her though, I'll be damned if I lose her to this fucking redneck with a desire to kill. First chance I get; I'll show him what it means to threaten my soulfinder.

As I started to run after Sky I was hit with a sudden déjà vu, from a couple years after we first started with the Net, I must've been around 12-13 at the time and we were still living in our hometown: Longmont, CO.

_We were running, all of us. That was all we could do - I was terrified. I had Trace, Will and Uriel beside me, a constant presence reminding me that I wasn't alone. The family had split up, causing the shooters to split up too so we had a better advantage. There must be around 5 of them, sent by Mickey Kastner, the gang leader out in Salt Lake City. We just put away half his members when he thought it was time react. He sent over 5 of his best shooters with the order to kill us all._

_Trace ducked behind a tree, grabbing my arm and tugging me towards him – pulling me out the way of a bullet I didn't see coming._

What are you doing, Zed? _Trace hissed into my mind. _Remember what Dad said? Think with your gift! Not your feelings, not when we're being shot at. You can see the future, tune into those guys behind us and keep tabs on when they're going to shoot or what they're going to do. You're our secret weapon – you can see what they're going to do even before they decide on it, none of us can. It's down to you, Zed. I know you can do it. _Trace looked behind me, checking to see if the coast was clear. _Right, lets go.

My flashback ended when my gift alerted me to another gun shot – aimed at Sky, just as the gun sound cracked, I tackled her from behind hoping it wasn't too late and the bullet had hit her. I felt my elbow connect with her face as we went down; the shot hit the tree in front just level with where Sky's head would have been. I sighed with relief.

"Damn. Sorry," I muttered into her shoulder, "Saw that one almost too late again." Get your head in the zone, Zed! Remember what dad said: Think with your gift.

_Better stunned than dead. _Sky's voice filled my head softly. I was too worried that I couldn't bring myself to be happy that she was talking to me telepathically.

_Yeah, but still I'm sorry. Just stay still. Dad and Xav are hunting our hunter now._

_I think there's more than one._

"What?" I lifted my head from her shoulder to look at her. "How do you know?"

"I don't know. I just feel them there."

_Dad. Sky thinks there is more than one hunter; she says can feel their presence there. Be careful, it could be a trap for you. We're going to try and make it back to the house._

_Got it. We'll be careful. Keep her safe, Zed._

_I will._

"I've told him to be careful, it could be a trap to lure him out." I couldn't risk moving from over Sky, not after she was almost shot. I was so close to losing her, if my gift had alerted me a second later she would've been dead. I squeezed her tighter to me, thinking of a plan to get us back to the house. "We've got to get back to the house. There's a stream just over that ridge. If we get there, we can stay hidden and circle back. OK?"

Sky nodded, determined and alert. "OK. How do we get to it?"

I smiled grimly. "You're amazing, Sky. Most people would've lost it by now. We crawl – make like lizards. I'll go first."

I slithered on my belly over the ground towards the ridge before dropping over it out of sight. I waited, holding my breath for a sound of a gunshot until I saw Sky roll and come into sight.

_This way. _I told her.

Keeping low, I led Sky down the course of a shallow stream that fed into the Eyrie. I could feel Sky stumbling over the rocks of the stream and cursed in my head, her sneakers must be ruined right now. So much for this date idea, I know I wanted to get her comfortable in my natural habitat but this was taking the piss.

_Hold on to my jacket. We're almost there._

Sky gripped onto my jacket as we carried on our way, finally the stream got deeper and the bank lowered allowing us to clamber out of the gully. We emerged on the grassy slope in front of the house.

"Sense anything?" I murmured.

"No. You?"

"I can't see anything, I think its clear. Let's make a run for the house." I gave her arm a squeeze. "On three. One – two – three!"

We sprinted across the open ground; I kept Sky in my line of sight until we ran through the front door. I used my telekinesis to lock the door from behind me before letting out a sigh. We're safe, for now at least.

"Your dad and Xav OK?" Sky panted out.

_We're at the house. We made it in OK, there's no sign of them. Are you OK?_

_Good, we're fine. We've lost the hunters, Sky was right – there were two of them. They shot off out of town in an unmarked SUV. We're circling back now; stay here until we're back, I'm getting the rest of the family home as soon as they can. I've told Victor – they're on their way. You've done great, son._

"They're fine, but they lost the hunters. You were right, there were two of them. They took off out of town in an unmarked SUV. Black, dark windows – hundreds of cars like it in the mountains. Dad says to stay here till he gets back." I took in the sight of her bruising eye and cringed. I did that. "Let's look at that eye."

I steered Sky into the downstairs bathroom, sitting her on the edge of the bathtub before I looking for the first aid box.

What was happening? How did they find us! We've tried so hard to be discrete but they still manage to wreck our lives! I can't go through the drama of being found again, not when everything I have is here! I'm still trying to win over my soulfinder and there's no way she'd move to a new place with us. Oh God – Sky; she was shot at and nearly killed, on numerous times. I wish I could get my hands on those low life scums. If I could only find out who they were I would find them and–

I felt a hand on my arm, losing my train of thought. "Hey, it's OK."

"It's not OK." I ripped open a pack of cotton wool, shooting the balls all over the vanity unit. I looked up at her so she could see the fury in my eyes. "We're supposed to be safe here."

"Why wouldn't you be safe? What's going on, Zed? You don't really seem all that surprised that someone wanted to shoot you!"

I gave a hollow laugh, at the irony of Sky finding out this way, of all ways. "It does make a kind of horrible sense, Sky." I took a flannel and ran it under the tap before placing it against her bruising eye, hoping that the cold would numb the pain. "Hold that there."

Leaving Sky in charge of holding the flannel to her eye, I took the cotton wool and started to clean her cuts. "I realise you want to know why that might be, but it's better for you and for us if you don't."

"And I'm supposed to be OK with that?" Sky asked in disbelief, pulling the flannel away from her face, "I go for a walk with you, and get shot at, and I'm not supposed to wonder why? I can live with exploding lemons and the rest of it, Zed, but this is different. You almost died!"

I gently pushed the flannel back to her eye. "I know you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you! I'm mad at the people who just tried to kill us! Have you told the police?"

"Yeah, Dad's handling it, they'll be along. They'll probably want to talk to you." I checked on her eye and whistled at the purple bruise forming. "How's this for a first date: I've given you a black eye."

Sky jolted. "This was a date?" She looked up at me with wide eyes. "You asked me here on, like, a date and I missed it?"

I tried to make light of the situation. "Yeah, well, not many boys take their girls out on a duck shoot with them as the target for a first date. You have to give me points for originality."

"This was a date?" Sky repeated.

I pulled her into my arms, letting her head lean against my chest. "It was a date – I was trying to get you used to me, kinda in my natural habitat. But I can do better, I promise."

"What? Gladiatorial combat next?"

I chuckled, "Now there's an idea." I nuzzled her hair, breathing in the faint smell of her shampoo and the smell of the woods. "Thanks for keeping a cool head out there."

"Thanks for bringing us through it."

"Zed? Sky? Are you all right?" Dad shouted from the hallway.

"In here Dad!" I called from the bathroom, "I'm fine. Sky's a bit roughened up, but she's OK."

Dad hovered by the door, his expression anguished, "What happened? Didn't you see the danger, Zed?"

"Yeah, obviously I saw. I thought, 'Let's take my girlfriend out for a walk and try and get her killed'. Of course I didn't see! No more than you sensed it."

"Sorry, stupid question. Vick's on his way, I've called your mom and Yves back. Trace said he will be here as soon as possible."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know. The two Kellys were sent down on Tuesday. It could be payback. But they shouldn't know where to find us."

Sky turned in my arms to look at my dad, "Who are the Kellys?"

Dad took in her injuries on her face properly for the first time. "Sky, you're hurt! Xav, get in here!"

_The bathroom was beginning to feel very crowded with so many Benedicts hovering over me. _"I'm fine. I just want some answers."

Xav came running into the bathroom. "She's not fine. Her face feels like it's on fire." Sky was about to protest when Xav cut in. "Don't bother, Sky. I can feel what you're feeling. An echo of it."

I watched as Xav put his fingers to her bruise and started to work his magic with relief. I was glad that her pain was being taken away from her; she would still be kept with the bruise though. A temporary reminder of how I could've lost her – how for a split second I pushed my gift back and now had to look at what could've happened.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to stop you looking like a panda tomorrow." He lifted his finger away; Sky touched her face cautiously in wonder. "It's my gift. You'll still have a bit of a bruise. I haven't had time to get rid of all of it. Pain's quick, bruises take more time to clear up – at least another fifteen minutes or so."

"We'd better get Sky home. The further from this mess she is, the better." Dad ushered us all out of the bathroom.

"Won't the police want to take her statement?" I asked, handing Sky a dry pair of my socks from the clean laundry basket.

"Vick's sorting it out. He doesn't think we should involve the local cops; he'll get his people on to it. If he wants to talk to her, he can go to her to do so."

"And his people are?" Sky kicked off her ruined shoes, rubbing her icy feet.

"The FBI."

"That's like the CIA – spies and stuff?"

"No, not really. The Federal Bureau of Investigation deals with crimes that cross state boundaries. The big felonies. They're plain clothes. Agents rather than cops."

Sky unravelled her plait and crunched her hair into a messy ponytail. "Zoe always says Victor is a man of mystery."

Dad flicked his eyes to me, uncomfortable with how much she knows about us. I'd have to tell him and mom about Sky being my soulfinder; I knew that was something I'd have to do if I wanted to keep seeing her.

"But the less that's known about his other life, the better, understood?"

"Another Benedict family secret?"

"They do seem to be piling up, don't they?" Dad chucked me the keys to my bike. "Take Sky home on the bike – but don't go direct. We don't want you leading anyone to her."

"You could take me to my parents' studio and they can run me back?" Sky offered.

"Good thinking. Zed, give my apologies to Mr and Mrs Bright for not taking proper care of their daughter."

"How much do I tell them?" I asked, not looking forward to the conversation with her parents I was about to have. What a nice first impression this was, I thought sarcastically.

Dad rubbed the back of his neck, tiredness seeping through. "I'll get Victor to explain. He'll know what and how much to say. For now, tell them it was some idiot running wild in the woods. Ask them to keep a lid on it until the authorities have had a chance to deal with it. Is that OK with you, Sky?"

Sky nodded.

"Good, you did great." Dad kissed the top of Sky's head and pulled me into a hug. "Thank God we've only got one black eye to show for it. And thank you, Sky, for being so patient with us."

* * *

**AN: Wow, my fingers hurt from typing so much and it isn't either a long chapter!**

**I had fun writing the flashback! Makes me want to write a one-shot of their time/attack in Longmont. I don't know why I chose Longmont. I wanted somewhere relatively close to Denver so I popped on google maps and chose the one that stuck out to me. **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to review i'd love to hear what you think! **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Bet y'all thought I forgot about you. I haven't… it just turns out that I'm lazy. That, and college deadlines. 3 in one week, yowzah.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"I'm going to take us by some back roads that skirt round Wrickenridge to your side of town." I warned Sky when starting the bike. "Just in case." I'm not taking any more risks not when those killers were on the loose.

I kicked the bike into gear and set off down the back roads, trying to avoid looking at how Mr. and Mrs. Bright would react when they saw their daughter, 'badly' wouldn't even cover it I suspect. Just what I needed, Mr. and Mrs. Bright were going to be in my life for a long time I couldn't bear to have my soulfinders parents hate me – that would just lead for a stormy ride. A ride I didn't feel like going on just yet.

To calm myself down I let my mind tune into Sky's thoughts, reminding myself that she was here with me. Instantly I felt better seeing the world in Sky's eyes but it was over too soon and I was parking the bike outside the Arts Centre dreading entering.

"By any chance can you do that thing Xavier does?" Sky mumbled hopefully, pinching the bridge of her nose once she took her helmet off. The pain must be coming back, not surprising with the uneven back roads we took to get here.

"No," I replied apologetically, "but I can buy you something for it at the drug store?"

"It's OK."

I blew out a breath, mustering up all the courage I could find in my body. "Come on; let's face the music from your dad."

"Can you see how bad it's going to be?"

"Trying not to." I admitted.

* * *

As I predicted, 'badly' didn't even begin to cover how Sky's parents reacted to Sky's injuries. They kicked into gear as soon as I opened the door for Sky and saw the purple mess that was her eye. I could tell that I was already in Mr. Bright's bad books, with the murderous glare he was giving me when I started to tell them what happened – I couldn't bring myself to listen to his thoughts right now, not if that glare was anything to go by. I really wished I changed out of my bike leathers before entering to deliver the news.

"Sky!" wailed Mrs. Bright, her voice echoing around the studio, "What have we brought you to? This would never have happened in Richmond!"

"You might not believe me, ma'am, but it doesn't normally happen here either." I tried to comfort her mother to no avail. I was no good at these things, usually Victor or Trace broke the bad news – they knew exactly how to word things to make the person understand yet here I was, with my _soulfinders _family and I had no idea what to do but I suppose being polite couldn't hurt my chances with them, I mean, my first impression is already down the toilet.

Mrs. Bright assessed Sky's face, tutting over the bruise around her eye. "You're not to go out until this crazy man is caught!"

"And why didn't you tell us you were going out this evening, Sky?" Her dad was still looking at me with hostility, granted, I deserve it but I still felt a little on edge with the looks he was giving me. I felt that I had been sentenced to death and Simon was my executor and if his thoughts were anything to go by, he was well up for the job.

"It was a last minute decision. I just went for supper. I thought I'd be back before you came home."

_Your dad is measuring me up for my coffin right now, _I tell her.

_He's not._

_I'm catching images here – all of them painful and detrimental to my future prospects of being a father. _I winced internally as another one of those said images flash into my brain. Once this has all died down I need to make sure I _never _get on Simon's bad side again.

"You're grounded, Sky, for going out without permission." Her father growled. I could see in his thoughts that he was terrified for her safety, thinking if he kept her at home – away from me, away from the outside world, she'd be safer. The thought stung but I understood.

"What! That's not fair!"

_He's over-reacting because he's afraid for you._

_Still not fair._

I tried to take the attention off of Sky, hoping I would be the outlet to Simon's anger. "I'm sorry, sir, it's my fault Sky went out tonight. I asked her over."

It didn't work. "That may well be, but my daughter has to learn to take responsibility for her own decisions. Grounded. For two weeks, Sky."

_Zed, get home as soon as you have explained the situation to Sky's parents, Victor will be here soon and I want you home here where you're safe with us. _Mom's voice filled my head, a silent command hidden in her worry.

_I'll be home soon. Just clearing things up with her parents – I'll take the back roads again._

_Stay safe, sweetheart._

"Simon!" Sky shouted, bringing my attention back to her. She was embarrassed that I was witnessing this, I wished there was some way I could make this better but I knew I couldn't, not when Simon was feeling this irrational.

"Don't make me extend it to four, young lady!" Simon glanced at me, "Goodnight, Zed."

I guess that was my cue. I squeezed Sky's hand as a silent apology. _Sorry. He's not going to listen to me. I'd better get back._

I felt terrible leaving her to fend off with her parents. I knew it would all work out though, you can never stay too angry at Sky no matter what she's done, I just hope they don't argue too badly.

_On my way home, _I told my mom as I mounted my bike.

_Good, sweetheart. Vic says he'll be here in a couple hours. Your father has told me to tell you that while you take the back roads to keep an eye out for anything strange. We don't know where those killers are._

_Sure mom, I'll be careful. I have my gift on high alert. I'll be home soon._

I cut off the link and put my attention back to the ride home. It was lonelier than the ride to the studio, the presence of Sky and her arms around me – without it, I was itching to get home and off this bike.

After what felt like a lifetime, I finally drove into the driveway of our home; I quickly parked my bike in its usual place and entered the house where Dad was waiting for me.

"Any dangers on your way back, Zed?" Dad asked.

"No. It seems that they've gone."

"Or keeping low." amended Dad. "The danger hasn't gone."

"I doubt they'd attack twice in one night, Dad. They know we're ready for them."

"What I want to know is how they got past without my gifts alerting me."

"Well, Sky—" I was cut off as my mom hurried into the hallway.

"Zed!" Mom cried, relief washing over your face as she ran the remaining distance between us to give me a hug before starting to check for injuries. "Are you alright? We're not going to stop until those crazy men are caught! And how's Sky? What did her parents say about what happened? Maybe I should ring them to apologise..."

"Mom, I'm fine, don't worry – Sky got the worst of the injuries, unfortunately. We're not in their good books as of yet. Neither is Sky though."

"I should really go and apologise... Sky was in our care and—"

"I wouldn't just yet," I insisted, "everything was getting quite heated when I left. At least let Vic explain and for them to cool off before you apologise."

"That's probably best, your brothers are in the kitchen waiting for you."

"We want to hear your side of the story before Vic comes, he's bringing Agent Anya with him and with her here we won't be able to talk to him properly until Anya leaves." Dad added as we walked into the kitchen where Xav and Yves were seated.

"Zed!" Yves shot out of his seat into standing position. I waved him off.

"I'm fine. No bullets hit me."

"How's Sky?" Xav asked from his seat.

"Still shaken and getting a talk to by her parents. She's grounded," I added sheepishly once I was seated, "a real good first impression this is, wouldn't you think? Thanks for healing her by the way, bro. I really appreciate it."

Xav waved it off. "It's my job, man. She's a nice girl, still going to look like a panda tomorrow though, there wasn't much I could do about the bruising. Maybe if there was, you wouldn't have her father out for your blood." Xav smirked.

"Oh, he's doing more than that at the moment. I'm being measured for a coffin next week."

Xav laughed, thinking I was kidding. "So, what happened?" Yves asked as soon as Mom and Dad sat down at the head of the table.

"I don't actually know. Everything was normal – I didn't predict that anything like this would happen. Dad sense no dangers so Sky and I went for a walk up the Ski-runs after dinner, then all of a sudden my gift alerted me to a gun shot going off – I only had a couple seconds to get Sky on the ground before it hit us. From then on, I was trying to keep Sky safe but even then my gift was pretty slow on telling me when the shots would take place, hence Sky's black eye. A bullet nearly hit Sky's head," I cringed at the memory, "it would've if my gift alerted me a second later."

"But it alerted you a second earlier, and she's safe, Zed. There's no point in torturing yourself with 'what ifs'." Dad said kindly, "But what I want to know is how Sky knew there were two hunters when neither of us sensed anything."

"It must be her gift leaking out. She's so hellbent on refusing the savant life that shes locked away her gift, putting it down as craziness."

"Wait, Sky's a savant?" Yves asked, shocked. "Since when?"

"Yes brother, do keep up. Did you not receive the memo?" Xav replied mockingly.

"Boys." Mom hushed, directing her gaze to my father. "How do you think the Kellys found us, and how do you think they managed to come undetected?"

"Do you think they had a Savant working with them?" murmured Yves in thought.

"No…" Dad said slowly, thinking it through. "How would the Kellys hire one?"

"No… it makes sense." And I realised, it did. "How else would the Kellys be able to sneak up on us like that? They must've hired someone whose gift specialises in sheildwork. Plenty of rogue savants out there with powerful gifts waiting to be bought for a job. A Kelly only had to hand them the money to hire them as hit-men, or in this case, their hit and run men."

"If that is the case then we aren't safe here." Dad murmured, taking mums hand that was gripped on his wrist into his hands. "We'll have to be on high-alert. If Zed is right and they have hired a Savant with an impressive gift in sheild work then even with our shields up we're still at risk."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Yves asked, "Wait around like sitting ducks until they next attack?"

"No. I suggest that we wait until Victors here and the statements have been took to see if he knows any additional information then work out a plan around that but before we can do that theres not a lot we can do so I suggest we all relax, they won't attack again so soon."

With that, the family meeting ended leaving the majority of us restless and agitated as well as an impatience for Victor to hurry up home. We all left to do other things, Mom and Dad setting up new shields, Yves experimenting on a new formula he was in the midst of making, Xav picking up a magazine and walking into the living room no doubt to try and distract himself and I went to my room trying to refrain myself from checking in with Sky. Is she home yet? Are her parents still mad?

I came to the conclusion that I should leave her to her thoughts for the night – especially when her parents are mad and there's a rogue savant in Wrickenridge.

* * *

Victor arrived at 10 o'clock with Agent Anya. My brothers and I had retired to our bedrooms around 9, getting changed into our pyjamas in the process. Dad called Xav and I downstairs to meet in the kitchen for our statements, wanting this over and done with fast we raced down the stairs and into the kitchen where Victor was waiting.

"Hey guys, I wish I was seeing you all on a more pleasant occasion, you remember my colleague: Agent Anya Kowalski?"

"Anya," Xav said charmingly taking her hand and giving it a light peck with his lips, "we really ought to stop meeting like this."

I smack the back of his head as I passed to go sit down. "Down, boy, do I need to go fetch the hose?"

Vic shakes his head at our antics as he pulls up the seat opposite me. "Xav, sit down. I've already taken Dads statement so I'll take yours now then do Zed's last. Is that fine with you?"

"Fire away, brother." Xav leant back in his chair, grinning at Anya who was avoiding eye contact. He does this every time we see her and yet she still hasn't learnt how to deal with Xav.

"As a precaution I have to ask whether you mind if I record these statements?" Indicating to his Blackberry that he used for work.

We shook our heads in consent and Vic pressed a button on his phone. "Record on. Incident seven, seven, eight, slash ten. Interview two. Present in the room are agents Victor Benedict and Anya Kowalski and witness, Xavier Benedict, a minor. Also in attendance are the witness's father and brother, Saul and Zed Benedict."

I zoned out after that, I've heard the speeches so many times before and what comes after. Xav relayed what had happened in his point of view, well as much as he could with Anya there. Then it was my turn, I robotically went through procedures, telling my story and answering any questions asked of me and then it was over.

"Do you need to get a statement off Sky?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. She's the key part of the case, especially how she knew there was more than one hunter on the loose, we need her side of the story to cover all aspects for the investigation. Anya and I will most likely be going over there now, then I'll drop Anya off at her hotel room for the night before coming back here to talk tactics."

I quickly ran to the downstairs toilet and got out a packet of aspirin before hurrying back to the kitchen where Victor was.

"If you're going to go over to Sky's would you do me a favour? Sky forgot to take some tablets for the pain her injuries are causing her so I'm hoping you could give her these so she's not suffering with headaches."

Vic looked at me funny before shrugging and pocketing the tablets. "Sure, anything else?"

"No, that's it. Thanks, Vic."

Victor and Anya soon left after that to go take Sky's side of the story, most likely waking them all up in the process.

* * *

An hour later, Victor returned and walked into the family room where we were all waiting for him. He collapsed in a cushion and ran a hand over his eyes.

"What a day." He groaned tiredly.

"How was Sky?"

Vic took away the hand over his eyes to look at me. "She's fine, pretty banged up though – that eye stands out like a sore tooth. She's a smart girl though, her taste in boyfriends aside." He grinned at me. "Sweet too, I see what you meant." He looked over at Dad. "I told Sky's family that we're part of a witness protection programme and that the people associated with the people locked up caught wind our location. Not exactly a lie but not the full truth either."

"What's our course of action then? What do we do now?" Yves asked.

"Well it appears that there's a leak in the FBI," Vic glanced at me, "something that Sky picked up on straight away, by the way." Pride swelled up in me, she would do well in this family, although I hoped she'd never have to go through this sort of thing again. "I need to look into the leak though but it seems the only plausible option on how they would've caught wind of your location. The Kellys are smart but not that smart.

It's also safe to say that I have to put you all on Code Red. No school, no speaking to anyone outside of the intermediate family until I give you the all clear. You're right in saying that the danger hasn't gone, I believe that they're just hiding low for the best time to pounce."

"Whoever is working with the killer is keeping his shields up strong – until he ends up dropping them we can't get a good luck on their location or when they decide to attack again." Dad stated.

"Which is why you all will be safer under lockdown until I have the area searched. You're stronger as a unit. I contacted Trace and they're keeping an eye on each other just incase."

"What about Sky?" I asked suddenly alarmed.

"It's too dangerous for her and for us to contact her during lockdown. We don't know who's listening in to our calls – we don't want anyone who could cause her harm knowing about her."

"So we're just going to fend for herself while we sit all cooped up in the house?" I yelled, not believing I was hearing this. "She already got the worst of the package and now we're just going to leave her to it in her hour of need?"

"Look Zed, I know she means a lot to you but this will be the safest route for her in the long run. Lockdown will only be for a couple of days–a week tops. There's no need to be spitting kittens about it." Vic got out of his cushion on the floor. "I'm going to upstairs to take a few calls before going to bed, we'll talk more in the morning."

With that my family got up from the cushions in the family room and headed off to bed.

"Mom? Dad? Could I have a word please?" I asked before they could walk out of the room.

"Of course, son." Dad said, going to sit back down on cushion. "What's on your mind?

"About this lockdown... I need to see Sky."

"Absolutely not, Zed." Mom shot down matter-of-factly. "You're not breaking lockdown to see your girlfriend. You should know better by now."

"But Mom!" I cried desperately, not wanting to sound so desperate but they were leaving me no other choice.

"No 'buts', Zed! This discussion is over. You're under lockdown – Code Red, you know what that means! No seeing people outside the family."

Dad gave me an apologetic look, thinking it was the premonition I was more worried about. If only it was that simple. "Sorry, Zed," he got up out of the cushion and put a hand on Mom's back, steering her out of the room, "you know the rules."

Mom and Dad turned to leave the room, signalling that that was end of discussion and nothing could sway their minds. I was running out of options, they wouldn't act like this if they knew that Sky was my soulfinder but I promised myself that I wouldn't tell them until Sky was ready and she definitely isn't ready, but ready or not she needs me right now and if telling my parents would allow me to see her then I'd just have to suck it and deal with it.

I took a deep breath and said the three words I knew would get them to listen to me: "She's my soulfinder."

* * *

**A/N: OK. A few things I want to say at the end of this chapter:**

**1- I am so so sorry that I haven't updated in ages. I have reasons, but it just goes back to my final major project and its deadlines, filming refilming pitch presentations etc. Once I actually had time to write I was too tired to do anything apart from sleep and catch up with my TV shows. The amount of essays and script rewrites that I had to do in the past week/s that I've been off is unreal, my mind feels kind of frazzled.**

**2 - This chapter was quite hard to write, maybe because I feel so out of it when it comes to writing at the moment. The chapter itself was supposed to be longer but I decided to end it like I did and cut the actual chapter into two. For ages during my time off writing I had the beginning of this chapter and the ending already written but finding how to write the middle was something I had trouble in doing. I don't really know if I like this chapter as of yet may end up coming back and changing it later on, especially when I get to re-edit (see 4.)**

**3- To Zoe: Sorry sweetie, seeing as you're writing as a guest I can't seem find anywhere to send my e-mail to, but by all means PM me on here or you could talk to me on tumblr (halfbloodmagic) I'd love to speak to you. That goes to anyone else who would like to talk to me seeing that is probably the best way to communicate with me because I'm always on there – whether I'm busy or not.**

**4- I think I'm going to go back on the chapters I have and beta it. Because usually (I did it for this chapter too) I don't check it for errors. I finish the chapter check the word count upload it. So I think now is a good time to check for errors. So sentences might be worded differently if you go back to re-read. **

**Thanks for reading, make sure to review and tell me what you think and I'm sure the next chapter will be up quicker than this. No promises.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! Been a while, eh? Short chapter, I just wanted this out quickly.**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_Mom and Dad turned to leave the room, signalling that this was the end of discussion and nothing could sway their minds. I was running out of options, they wouldn't act like this if they knew that Sky was my soulfinder but I promised myself that I wouldn't tell them until Sky was ready and she definitely isn't ready, but ready or not she needs me right now and if telling my parents would allow me to see her then I'd just have to suck it and deal with it._

_I took a deep breath and said the three words I knew would get them to listen to me: "She's my soulfinder."_

Mom and Dad stopped in their tracks and turned to look at me.

"What?" Mom asked, her voice muffled from the hand she put over her mouth. Dad was staring at me in shock.

"Sky. She's my soulfinder." I couldn't help the smile that fought its way on my face, saying the words out loud especially to my parents made it feel more real, set in stone. That I hadn't imagined it all up.

Mom's eyes lit up and she ran towards me, giving me only the split second to prepare before she engulfed me in a hug. "I'm so happy for you, baby." She mumbled into my neck. "I knew something was different with you but I never so much thought that it had something to do with you finding your soulfinder. It's so obvious now though, why didn't I see it?"

Dad put his hand on my shoulder, his eyes twinkling with happiness. "Congratulations son, you've found her."

Mom pulled back from the hug. "How long have you known?"

Ah, this is where it could get a little bit tricky. "Well, uh..." I shifted my gaze guiltily away from them, "a couple of weeks? Since the football game."

I chanced a look back at my parents and regretted it; Mom's face had completely dropped and Dad was looking at me with confusion. I opened my mouth to explain but Mom beat me to it, smacking me on my arm repeatedly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Mom asked, hurt shining in her eyes. Seeing the hurt in her eyes made me lower mine to the floor, I can see why she's hurt. When someone finds their soulfinder you shout it for the world to hear, yet I've kept it under-wraps. _For Sky._

"Its, uh.. complicated."

"How's it complicated, son?" Dad took a seat on one of the cushions in the room, indicating that Mom and I should as well.

"Sky's adopted." My parents looked at me blankly, not understanding. "Her adopted parents aren't savants. Therefore Sky doesn't know what she is-"

"But that's dangerous!" Mom exclaimed. "If she doesn't know what she is then she doesn't know how to control her gift! She could get hurt!"

"Her gift doesn't look like a destructive kind like Yves. From what I've seen from earlier it looks more like an emotional type, she managed to pick up that there was more than one hunter so maybe she's got a gift that merges in with danger? I can't really make an exact guess though because she's locked it away in her mind. You've seen part of her past, Mom, at the Art show. Something happened to her before she was adopted, enough for her to lock away everything from her childhood including her gift. She has no clue whats going on."

"Are you sure she has no idea what she is? Maybe she's just confused." Dad murmured in thought.

"No. I've seen it in her head, she has no clue. When I mentioned the Savant world she just looked at me blankly waiting for the punch line, and when I mentioned that she was my soulfinder and explained what it meant, she scoffed and called it a 'nice fairytale' and that she didn't believe in the whole thing because it left no room for choice. She's totally switched off that side of her."

"Well there's not much we can do about that, Zed. Not until she decides to unlock the door to her gift."

"I know there isn't, thats what I've been encouraging her to do. Trying to get her used to the Savant life, but of course when I go to do that, mad hunters decide to pay us a visit."

"Honey," Mom started, looking at me with sad eyes, "I know this is going to be hard to hear but I still don't think you should see her until we're out of lockdown." I open my mouth to protest but she cuts me off. "No, hear me out. You've got to think of her safety. From what you've told us, she's not safe to be around us until the coast is clear, if the Kellys find out how much she means to you then she'll be the prime target. We've always known that their plan is to hurt one of us to hurt us all, do you really want that one of us to be Sky? She's part of our family now, your father and I care about her welfare as much as we care about you and your brothers and we don't want her to get hurt, especially when she doesn't understand why or whats happening."

"And," Dad chipped in, "if theres a rogue savant on their team, he might be able to listen in on our conversations. He's not lowered his shields yet so who knows what else he could do? If he catches on that she's your soulfinder, then its like what your mom says: she'll be the prime target. Don't risk it, Zed, not yet. I know you want to protect her, I'd be the same if it was your mother but staying away from her for a couple days may just be the protection she needs."

I deflate where I'm sat. They've got a point, if they find out that she's my soulfinder she'll be in much more trouble than she already is, but can I really stay away from her until this has all blown over? She needs me right now, I can feel it. Things have been going so great between us - near death experience aside - would blowing her off until we're out of lockdown ruin things?

"I suppose you're right." I mumbled, putting my head in my hands. I have no idea what to do. Protect Sky and risk hurting my family or wait until the coast is clear with my family and risk hurting Sky? A couple of weeks ago I could've answered that question without a blink of an eye but now I'm not that sure...

"It'll go faster than you think, sweetie." Mom murmured comfortingly, taking my head gently out of my hands, "I'll get Victor to hurry up with his check. It's the safest option for Sky, I know you may not like it, but sometimes we have to do things we don't like to protect those around us."

"I suppose." I knew it was the best thing to do but still, I hated it.

"I wouldn't mention this to your brothers, Zed." Dad mentioned as he got off his cushion. "At least not until we've sorted all this out, they'll be happy for you but we need them to have a clear head for whats about to come."

With that, they left the room to leave me with my thoughts. Why did this have to happen now? Out of all of the times shit like this could happen it had to be when I've just found her. I cursed to myself and rubbed my eyes in exhaustion, I may not be able to contact Sky but it won't stop me from looking out for her. For once in my life I was quite happy that I could see into the future, with that plan in my head I marched up to bed. I'll need a refreshed mind if I'm going to look out for her properly.

* * *

**Sorry about the ending. I was quite stumped on how to do it.**

**So, I guess I owe you guys some form of explanation - as you've probably guessed I'm in the mist of my finals. Which, for a media student involves creating a short 10 minute film, 60 second trailer and a commentary track in 10 weeks - not easy! Especially when you have around 3 weeks to research, film, edit and so forth. **

**And as you know (because lets face it - its obvious) it has been taking away all my time because my deadline was the one thing I was paying attention too. Nothing else, I didn't even eat properly. I'm trying to get the best possible grade I can for my course because it means a hell of a lot to me so hence the late updates. **

**I probably chose the completely wrong time to start this story when I'm coming to the end of my course but hey ho, I started so I'm going to finish it - you'll just have to bear with me with the updates being less frequent. As an apology I'm going to make my chapters longer until I finish the course and can have more time to update quickly... just be patient and know that I will upload, I haven't forgotten about you guys, even when I'm in the mist of editing I still think about how I should be writing this story but right now, my course is a higher priority. Just know that I am sorry and I hope you guys understand, I'll be back fully after my course is done or during the break I have.**

**ALSO: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, reading your reactions to it really put a smile on my face during the stress, so thank you! I was in such a rush to upload this to you guys I didn't bother to even skim it for mistakes so when I finally read it back I was sat laughing on the bus at some of my typos that I made "plenty of vogue savants" had to be my favourite. I just have an image of an evil savant strutting his stuff down the catwalk and doing a pouty face. Ahhh the hilarity.**

**OK! I've said my piece, make sure the review and tell me what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

My phone buzzed for the fifth time today. It's been buzzing throughout the day constantly reminding me that I'm supposed to be out there – at school. Looking out for a certain someone.

**_ Zed, r u OK? Y aren't u at school, has somethin happened?_**

Sky.

This has been happening for the past couple of days. The morning after the attack Sky contacted me telepathically wondering how things were at home–if there was any news, if I was alright. How I itched to reply back to her, to tell her how everything's gone to shit but that's okay because she's safe and I'd rather have all this happen to me if that meant she'd stay safe, but I couldn't. Instead I blocked the link in my mind, shutting off Sky's conversation reminding myself that doing so, _ignoring her_ will keep her safe and keep the attention off of her. It was hard though, oh boy was it hard. This has been the hardest couple of days in my life and I've been through a lot.

I've been so used to Sky being a constant presence in my mind or around me and now that was abruptly taken away from me, it felt like a part of me has gone missing with her. I'd like to think that little part of me was protecting her while I was away but I had no way of knowing that for sure.

I felt terrible for leaving Sky to face the school with such a noticeable injury–I didn't have to use my gift to know that they've been hard on them, Sheena especially I know she's got it out for Sky ever since the soccer match–

"Penny for your thoughts?" Losing my train of thought at the interruption I looked up to find Xav smirking at me, leaning against my door frame.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"Oh, I did knock–you were just in your own world. What's up, Wolfman? Full moon coming up?"

"Get stuffed." I threw the nearest object from my bed side cabinet at him, cursing as he easily dodged it.

"Oh come on, you know I'm only joking. Want to come downstairs, Vic and I are getting ready to watch the game, popcorn and everything. Yves is even coming down, he's going to read and do some brain-boy stuff while he pretends to be judgemental about our obsession with sports and makes snide remarks about how if we put as much interest into our school books we might actually learn something like he usually does when really he has a deep fascination with sport but is too ashamed to admit it. It'll be fun. Come on."

"Nah, I'm fine. Enjoy the game."

"Oh come on, Zed! It's not the first time you've been in lockdown. You know the drill, now stop being a baby and come and watch the game with us!"

"Who's being a baby?" A voice pipped up from down the hallway, footsteps became closer until Yves popped into view.

"Our _baby_ brother. He's being a _baby_ about lockdown. He's sulking."

"I am not sulking!"

"Oh?" Yves asked, eyebrows raised. "Well your current living arrangements beg to differ. Curtains closed–even though its two in the afternoon, only resurfacing from your bed for meals and even then you take them upstairs and I'll bet my new experimental kit that you've not had a shower since the attack. Am I correct in these assumptions?" God, I wanted to punch him.

"Wow, brother. I guess I now know why we call you a genius." I mocked sarcastically.

My phone buzzed again, I kicked it away from me–not caring that it fell off my bed and slid away from me. Why did it decide now to have good service?

Xav walked over to my phone and picked it up and read out loud. "'Zed, you're really starting to scare me now, seriously what's happened?' Sky. So this is why you're sulking? Because you can't reply back? Just switch off your phone, temptation gone."

"Oh yes," I scoffed, throwing my hands up in the air, "why didn't I think of that! I just had to turn my phone off! Oh stupid me, the temptation to speak to her is gone! You speak wisdom Xav, I mean seriously are you sure you aren't the genius and not Yves?" I dragged a hand tiredly down my face and sighed. "Sorry. It's just the 'temptation' as you put it will not just disappear if I just turn off my phone. No matter what I do, I feel like should be there taking the blunt of the glares and whispers she's bound to be getting–what with looking like a panda and all. I threw her into the sharks with no more than a 'have fun, Sky!'"

"You really care for her, don't you?" Yves murmured in amazement.

"Of course I do!" I yelled, exasperated. "You really think I would've brought her here if I wasn't?"

"Come and watch the game, Zed." Xav said, looking serious for once. "Vic said we should be out of lockdown by Friday. You have one more day until you can go see Sky and explain to Sky what's been going on without giving too much away, but right now you need to take your mind off it so go and take a freaking shower because you stink and we'll see you downstairs."

* * *

**AN: You know when you're about to go to sleep and all of a sudden you get these amazing ideas for your story but can't be arsed to move and you think 'Oh, I'll remember them come tomorrow morning so its alright.' but you don't remember the next day so you're really sad? Yeah. It's that type of day.**

**Also: It literally pained me to type in text lingo. I hate, I repeat: HATE writing in text speak but here we are. **

**I know this is short, apologies. I'm writing when I can and because its in long spaces of time I want to have the chapters out quick. So sorry, I know I said they'd be long but I'm trying? Good news is that I finish college on the 21st! Happy dance for all! **

**I promise you guys once this all over I will sit down and write you a bunch of reaaaally long chapters. **

**Zoe: Yay you have an account! Enable your PM! I wanna private message you!**

**Tell me what you think of the chapter! **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Because you all asked nicely. Sorry in advance for the typos.**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

I don't think I've ever been so happy to go back school, ignoring the fact that the day I so happened to get released off of lockdown was also the day of my calculus test that I was so sure I was going to miss—I was quite happy with that fact too, it was the silver lining of an undoubtedly horrible week. But, if it means I'll see Sky then I'll take the stupid test, what's another D- to my collection of awesome—ahem, if you excuse my sarcasm—grades?

I was ready and nearly out of the door 30 minutes earlier than usual until Victor hauled me back inside, "As much as I love your dedication to your studies, brother, you know the rules. I'll be taking you and Yves to school in the car, Moms cooked pancakes for us all."

So here I was, sulking and muttering the occasional curse word under my breath in the kitchen when Mom and Dad were out of earshot and attacking my syrup covered pancake with my knife like it was the attackers from the forest.

"What's got you in such a mood, Wolfie? I thought you'd be happy that you're going back to school?" Xav said cheerfully, sitting down at the table and stealing a few pancakes from the middle of the table when Mom's head was turned.

Before I could answer, Vic piped up. "It's because he's got to wait around until registrations just started." He scoffed from behind his newspaper before adding mockingly. "He was in such a rush to get to school today you see."

I muttered some more obscenities under my breath but carried on 'eating' my pancakes.

_She will forgive you, you know. _Xav's voice filled my mind. I glanced up, to see him watching me.

_How do you know that? I left when she needed me most and ignored her for days._

_She'll understand when you explain. Come on Wolfman, you're really going to give up on your prey? Just like that?_

_I really wish you'd stop calling me Wolfman, Xav._

_Yeah, well, keep wishing because it ain't happening._

_Prick._

Xav snorted and carried on eating his pancakes. Suddenly I felt better, Xav was right–Sky will understand, she'll understand that I had no choice—that I did it to protect her and my family.

I finished my pancakes and looked at the clock. 8:55. People will be just getting ready to go into registration. Vic looked at the clock and wiped his mouth on a napkin before scrunching it up and throwing it on his plate, he got up with his plate, putting it in the sink and turned to look at Yves and me.

"Are you guys ready? I'll take you now."

I looked down at my nearly empty plate, suddenly not hungry anymore. My eagerness to get to school returned, Sky's bound to be there already, I'll have to catch her at break or lunch. Could I really wait until then? Skipping classes doesn't bother me seeing as I've done it before, but I have a feeling that Sky wouldn't agree to it—especially if she's mad at me.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I answered, getting up from my seat and putting my plate next to Vic's and Yve's.

"I'll wash up when I get back," Vic told Mom, giving her a kiss on the top of her head, "I'll be back soon."

* * *

The drive was torture. Vic decided now would be the perfect time to a respectable driver—driving the 'respectable' 30mph when usually he's all about speeding. Yep, I thought, his job really is getting to him; I bet his bosses are proud. Its not like anyone would see who was driving if, by some miraculous discovery, Victor found the accelerator pedal, we're driving in a sleek Prius with blacked out windows, meaning _you couldn't see inside the car_. I can't believe I'm ranting about travelling to school—if I didn't know any better its like I'm looking forward to education, wow, Sky really is bringing out the worse in me.

When we _finally _pulled into the school, Vic parked near the door to reception.

"Right," Victor said, turning around in his seat to look at Yves and me, "no dawdling—you don't know whose watching. Get out the car and hurry to the door, if anyone's watching we can't risk them knowing that you're back at school defenceless-"

"We won't be defenceless." I interrupted moodily. "We've got each others backs."

"I know you have," he sighed, "but you can never be too safe."

Oh you can, I was sure of it, but there's no point in arguing with him, not if I wanted to get out of this car anytime soon.

"Okay, are you ready? Get out now."

We got out of the car slamming the doors shut and hurrying towards the door.

_Zed._ I froze, it was her voice and she sounded so close. I looked around scanning the area until I found her. There she was, rushing to reception too, it was obvious that she was running late but I was glad of it. I soaked in her appearance; my memory didn't give her justice. She was beautiful; I can't believe I didn't notice her as soon as I exited the car. The wind blowing rapidly through her blonde curls as she rushed towards me, relief in her eyes, but it was over too soon, Yves and Victor grabbed my arms spinning me around and towards the door.

"What did I just say in the car?" Vic hissed.

_I'll find you later._ I promised Sky, disappointment swelling up inside me.

"Sorry." I muttered, angry with my brothers for cutting my reunion short with my soulfinder.

"You'll see her later, Zed." Yves said once we were inside the room and Vic was talking to Joe. "Once we're actually in school where whoevers watching can't see us."

"Yeah, I know. Its not my fault that she was late to registration too."

"Right boys!" Joe clapped his hands happily. "Welcome back! Pop yourselves off to your first class, registration is almost over anyway so there's no point making your way to it now."

Muttering under my breath about how Joe couldn't possibly be that cheerful unless he added some form of substance in his coffee, I made my way to my dreaded class: Calculus.

* * *

I was in trouble.

I knew this when I saw Sky hidden away in a corner of the 'reference section' in the library. I found her at recess, sitting across from her while she continued to stare blankly at the table, tracing the patterns of the wood distantly like she was lost in thought. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess that even I couldn't get a strong grasp on them.

_Sky, I'm sorry. _

_Hey, another benefit of this mind-talking stuff__—not only do you have low phone bills but you don't get chucked out of the library! _I frowned, why is she blowing me off?

I watched as she got up and pulled the P to Q section of the encyclopaedia towards her, flipping it to a random page and pretending she's all of a sudden found an interest in penguins.

_You mad at me?_ I continued to stare at her, concern etching throughout my body, has this time apart really made me lose her?

_No. _I almost sighed with relief. I could tell she was telling the truth, she wasn't mad, just upset.

_Then why the cold shoulder?_

Sky glanced up at me for the first time, our eyes locked. _Oh my, he looked good_—_I just want to bury my face in his shoulder and hold on tight. _I almost smile at her thoughts, I wanted to tell her that she could do that for as long as she wanted and I wouldn't mind, that I'll never let her go.

Thinking that would embarrass her however, I said instead: _Your eye hurt?_

She gave a slight shake of her head. _No, your brother fixed that; he just left me looking like a dork._

She thought back to the suffering she had to go through when everyone saw her black eye. I winced with guilt. _I couldn't come in until the area had been searched._

_Yeah, I guessed something like that was going on._

_I couldn't text you because there's no network reception at home. I'm sorry. _A slight lie, but a needed one.

_No, don't apologise. I understand._

_Do you really? _I let all of my feelings come to the surface. _Do you really understand how difficult it's been for me? I wanted to be with you_—_stay with you that day. You argued with your dad, didn't you?_

_Yeah, but we're okay now._

I gave her a knowing look. _You're upset that I wasn't there to take the heat about your eye. People have been giving you a hard time._

_Not hard, just awkward. Nelson's after you by the way._

_I deserve it._

_You were saving my life!_

_You should never have been in danger in the first place! I should never have put you at risk. _I sighed, looking around the library where people were filling in to get out of the snow. _Look, can we go somewhere so we can talk properly?_

_I don't know if that's a good idea… _Sky replied hesitantly, looking back at the book in front of her.

I pulled the book from out of her fingers, looking down at it in mock interest. _Penguins, such fascinating creatures, but I didn't know you were studying them. What class is that you're taking?_

_The 'we-stupid-looking-creatures-should-stick-together ' class._

I grinned, getting out of my seat and putting the book back on the shelf before walking over to Sky and holding out my hand. "Come with me."

"Where?"

"Music practice rooms. I booked one out, just in case."

She took my hand, allowing me to pull her out of the chair, before I let go of her hand before throwing it casually around her shoulders, pulling her close to my side before leading her out of the library, glaring menacingly and Sheena and her groupies who smirked at Sky's eye until they found somewhere else to direct their gaze. When we got to the music room, I checked inside to make sure it was empty before pulling Sky inside and shutting the door.

"That's better." I sighed, walking towards Sky until I had her backed against the door. I leant against her, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her close. "Just… let me hold you for a moment. I've not had a chance just to touch you since those maniacs went for us."

Just in that moment, while she allowed me to hold her, I realised how lucky I was to still be able to be close to her, to feel her steady heart beat beating against mine and for the shallow breaths of her breathing blowing against my cheek. I thought back to that night and the bullet that almost came close to her head and held her tighter, breathing in her scent. I was overcome with emotion, something I thought would never happen—not until I met Sky.

"Sky, I couldn't bear it if something happened to you." I whispered as I leant back to look at her, my hands trailed up to her hair, playing with the loose tendrils framing her face that hid her bruise.

"Why?" She looked scared. "Is something going to happen? Have you seen something?"

"I told you, I can't tell people too much about the future. I might change it to be what none of us want if I do that."

"So I take it mine doesn't look good?"

"Sky, please," I breathed out, leaning my head forward so our foreheads touched, "I don't know. Don't you think I'd act if I knew what would help? All I know is that I want you to be safe."

_This is so frustrating! Being a savant really must stink._

"Yeah, it does." I replied before I realised she didn't say that out loud.

Sky pushed me away from her. "You're doing it again: reading my mind! Stop it. It's mine—PRIVATE." She slipped away from my grasp and folded her arms, scowling at me.

"I seem to be always apologising to you, but I really am sorry. I can read you more clearly than I can other people—it kind of leaks out of you into my head.

Her voice took on a hysterical note. "And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"No," I answered patiently, "it's an explanation. You could learn to build shields, you know."

"What?"

"Basic savant training. Living in a family of them, you soon learn to start shielding."

"But I'm not a savant."

"You are. And I think deep down you know it too." Too far, I went too far I could see it in her eyes.

She fisted her hands in her hair and tugged, moving away from me so her back was to me. "Stop it! I don't want to hear this." An unfamiliar voice filled my head: _You're bad. Bad. Always making everyone unhappy. _"No I'm not!" Sky cried.

I ran towards her, "Sky," I tugged at her fists and pulling them away from her temples, drawing her towards me. I tried to calm her down by running my hands softly through the length of her hair before letting it fall back onto her shoulders. "You're beautiful." I murmured softly. "The furthest thing from back that I've ever met."

"What do you see—what do you know about where I came from?" She whispered brokenly.

I sighed, pulling her closer to me. "Nothing clear. Telling the past is more Uriel's gift than mine."

She gave a shuddering laugh. "Don't take this the wrong way but I hope I never meet him."

I gave a slight chuckle before I started to sway with her in my arms. Dancing slightly without the melody of the music but falling into the same rhythm like we were the perfect harmony.

After a little while, I spoke. "You want to know why I didn't call you?"

Sky nodded into my chest.

"I couldn't. We were on lockdown. I've got some more bad news."

"What?" She peeked out of my chest to look up at me. "Worse than some maniac being out to murder your family? I needed to know that you were all right. I needed to know that _you _were all right." My heart swelled at her words, finally realising that our time apart was as hard on her as it was on me.

"Victor put us on code red. It means we can't communicate outside the immediate family."

_I wonder where that put me on his order of priorities. He claims I'm his soulfinder after all. _That thought hurt me. Doesn't she understand? She's my _top _priority. She'll always be my top priority now. She has to understand that what I did, I did to protect her.

"We don't know who might be listening in to our calls. I should've found a way to get a message to you but I was afraid to use telepathy."

"Why?"

"That's the bad news. We think they've got a savant on the assassin team. They shouldn't have been able to get so close to us. Dad's gift is to sense danger. He should have known they were out there unless a powerful savant shielded them. You can listen in on telepathy just as you can speech if you have the gift. I didn't want anything I did to tip them off about you."

"So it's not just your family who can do telepathy?"

"No, there are a number of us we know about—and I guess many that we don't. You can turn a gift to evil as easily as you choose to use it for good. The temptation is there, particularly for those who don't have the balance of a soulfinder." I rubbed my chin against her hair, smiling at the memory of the football pitch. "You're my balance, Sky. I was already slipping before I met you. I can't tell you what it means to me—how grateful I am—that you saved me from that grey existence."

"You were slipping?"

"Yeah, big time. I'm not a nice person without you. It was becoming pretty tempting to use my gift to get my way, no matter how unfair or what the cost to other people was." I grimaced, unable to believe I was sharing this with her. "You've given me enough hope now to hold on until you're ready to unlock your gift. Once that's done, there's no chance I'll ever return to what I was."

Sky looked back at me alarmed. "But you're not safe yet? What should I do?"

I shook my head, smiling down at her. "Nothing. You need time. I'm more worried about getting this right for you than I am about me."

"But I worry about you."

I grinned before kissing her forehead. "Thanks, but let's give you the space you need and deal with what we have to so we can keep you safe."

"Do you think this savant really has turned bad?"

"Yeah, he was working with the shooter. He might still be listening in—we just don't know. Telepathy over a distance is harder to channel to just the right person. We haven't come up against this before. We should've anticipated this." We _should _have anticipated this. Why haven't we? It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened. Shouldn't we have learnt from before? Shouldn't we have grown stronger from it? But no, we're still sitting ducks, waiting for the next attack and now Sky-

"Why should you have done? You've only just got dragged into this through the witness thing. When the trial's over, won't the treat pass?"

"Not exactly..." I replied sheepishly, guilty that I was caught in another lie—one that was wrapped by Victor.

"Not exactly!"

"We aren't just witnesses—we're investigators. It's not just the latest trial—my family have combined their gifts to put away hundreds over the years. It's what we do."

"So that means you have more enemies?"

"If they knew that we were behind their conviction, yeah definitely—but they're not supposed to find out. Our information is used to steer the authorities to find evidence that will hold up in court. Our place isn't on the witness stand but behind the scenes."

Sky was silent for a while, taking all of the information that I just gave her in. "How do you do it?"

I closed my eyes briefly. "We work together—we see what happened."

"You see it? See all that awful stuff—the killings—the crimes?"

"If we ignored what happened, that'd be worse. We'd share part of that guilt if we didn't act to stop crimes when we can."

"But you suffer for it, don't you?"

I shrugged. "What's that compared to the good we can do?" I combed my fingers through her hair again, distracting myself and playing with the softness of it.

"I'm scared, Zed."

"I don't think there's any to you as long as we aren't seen together out of school. The only way I can think to protect you is be keeping my distance. If the rogue savant knew you were my soulfinder, it would put you in the centre of the target."

"That's not what I meant. I'm scared you're going to get hurt."

"We've got it under control now."

"But you're going to have to keep hiding, aren't you?"

I grimaced. "I don't want to think about that."

"Can I help? Is there some way I can make this easier for you?"

I shook my head. "It would mean you releasing your gift and, as I said, I don't think that would be a good idea yet."

"Releasing my gift? What does that even mean? You savants speak in riddles."

I laughed. "_Us _savants you mean. And if you're gift were free, then you'd light up like I do when you're with me."

Sky nestled closer to me, running her fingers all over my chest leaving shots of electricity in its wake, I felt my heart pick up its beat and my breathing getting more heavy. "I already feel pretty sparkly." She admits.

I smile before tenderly kissing her hair before I caught her fingers in mine and pressed them into my shirt. "That's good—but you'd better stop doing that or we'll both be in trouble."

"Zed," Sky's voice took on a vulnerable note that caught my attention, "is all of this real?"

She was still doubting me, "Yeah, it is. You're gift's just waiting for you to reach for it."

"I'm afraid to do it."

I rested my chin on top of her head and pulled her closer to me. "I know. And I can wait—as long as you need me to. Come, sit on my lap for a moment."

I led her over to the drum kit and sat on the stool.

She looked dubious. "You want me to sit on your lap there? I'll fall off!"

"Not if you sit facing me." I shot flirtingly.

Sky laughed, a beautiful sad laugh, like she was humouring me. "This is crazy."

"Maybe." I sighed before looking back at her with mischief twinkling in my eyes. "But I'm going to enjoy it."

Sky sat on my lap, resting her head on my chest with her arms wrapped around me. It felt amazing, I wish we could've stayed in that music room forever—hiding from the world, the threats, everything. With Sky putting all her trust in me I felt like I could do anything, be whoever she wants to be, take on whoever wanted to rip us apart… it gave me hope.

"You hold on now, ya hear?"

"Uh-huh."

I smiled before I took hold of the drumsticks and began to play the percussion part for the song we had first performed together as the jazz band. Sky hummed along, the vibrations tingling against my shirt.

"We could really do with the piano but I don't want you to move." I whispered softly in her ear.

"We can imagine it." Sky murmured back.

The beat of the drums was slow and hypnotic. Calming. I started to sing the words to 'Hallelujah' along with the beat of the drums and stopped when I realised Sky hadn't joined in.

"You just gonna sit there or sing with me?"

"I'm just gonna sit."

"What's wrong with your voice?" I asked curiously.

"I don't sing. Never have—not for a long time."

"There's only me here. I won't laugh." I promised.

She snuggled up closer into my chest. "I'll just listen."

I decided not to push. "Okay. But I'll get you singing yet."

* * *

**A/N: Well, hopefully now that I've finished college my updates will be more frequent. For those wondering, yes: I got good grades, outstanding in fact—AAB, I'm quite proud of myself. Which means, yes I got into my desired University so I'm hoping to have this story finished before I start in September. Do you think I can do it? Its a pretty big commitment and you know how I am with updating. **

**But once I finish this story that won't be it for the whole Finding Sky Zed/Sky era. I have quite a few bits planned to write after this story is finished—1 shots, the occasional 2, I don't think I'd be ever ready to give up writing these characters.**

**Funny story actually, I got a review sent through to my phone a week(?) ago asking for an update, and I was like "yeah! you know what, I'm going to write and have it up for tonight" and me being me with my short attention span, wrote around 600 words and decided "I wonder whats on TV" which ultimately ended my little motivated writing sequence.**

**Also: I noticed, while writing this chapter by ear and only near the end turning to the book for the required dialogue, I realised that I made a somewhat boo-boo on part of the plot. Zed's lockdown is only literally for 2 days, but I've made it out to be a whole week. But *leans in closer* between you and I, I have a solution. I'm turning Zed into an over-dramatic loony when I reread the chapters. I mean, its all there, you've just got to add in that little piece of information to just be like "Oh relax, Zed. You'll see her in a couple of days. Deep breaths sonnyboy, deep breaths."**

**Woo! All that writing has made my wrists hurt!**

**Well, until next time. Make sure to review and tell me what you think!**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Short chapter, shortest of the short, I know, don't hurt me. I'm not sure on this chapter as in, I really hate it but I've put it up anyway. I'll explain all at the bottom. This also has quite a bit of swearing in... not extreme swears but in any case I just thought it would be well to warn you.**

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**Chapter 15**

"Oi! Benedict. I want a word." Nelson's angry voiced filled the locker room, all eyes looked up in interest—most likely hoping for a fight. I sighed internally, watching as my friends grinned in anticipation, knowing that they were in for a show.

I schooled my features into a mask everyone knew so well and turned around, scowling at Nelson in annoyance. "How nice," I drawled sarcastically, "I'm guessing you want a word then, 'idiot' is a good one, but from the look on your face I'm going to assume that isn't what you meant." I leant back against the wall and sighed dramatically, trying to ignore the scolding voice that sounded like Sky in the back of my head. I don't even want to think about what she will say to me when she finds out that I'm being a dick, "Shame really, I had a whole list going for you."

Nelson glared, not as amused of my antics as my friends were. "I'm tired of your shit, Benedict. To be honest I could do without this chat but seeing as you're so oblivious to anybody's needs other than your own—" I scoffed. "—I'm going to spell it out for you. Leave. Sky. Alone."

I choked on my laughter, not being able to believe this was coming out of Nelson's mouth, sure, I knew he hated me but I didn't think he hated me to this extent, although, I suppose I wasn't giving him much of a reason to like me but, its not him I'm out to impress so I couldn't give a flying fuck what he thinks of me. The scolding voice in the back of my head starts up again, I squash it, knowing if I hear Sky's voice right now I'll back down. "I'm sorry?" I said still chuckling. "What did you say?"

Nelson growled—_actually growled. _I've gotta give props to the kid, when he gets protective he seriously goes all out. It's nice to know that someone like him is looking out for Sky. I wish I could tell him that he's got no reason to be suspicious of me but I could tell right now that he wouldn't believe me, not with the act that I put on and I wasn't willing to let him see under that, that was just for Sky and my family.

"Christ, Benedict. Do I need to say it again? Leave Sky alone. She doesn't need someone like you in her life—" I scoffed, looking over at Sean to find him grinning with Ian and Zack with his arms folded taking in the scene with amusement. I caught his eye and he gave a shrug, rolling his eyes dramatically at Nelson's antics.

"Look Neil—" I interrupted, using the wrong name on purpose to get a rise out of him. It worked.

"_Nelson._" Nelson managed to grind out, glaring at me.

"Oh!" I slapped my hand to my head dramatically, "I'm sorry! Look _Nelson, _what goes on between Sky and me is really none of your business. Sky obviously wants me around so I don't know where you're getting all this off, so its fine, thanks for your concern though." I turned back around to my sports bag and carried on with what I was doing before Nelson came along hoping he got the message and went somewhere else to brood.

That plan worked for all of two minutes before I felt a hand on my shoulder, shoving me back around to face him. Big mistake, now I was actually starting to get pissed.

"It _is_ my business because Sky is my friend, and it definitely became _more_ of my business when Sky came into school one day with a massive bruise on her face and you were nowhere to be seen. Care to explain?" Nelson glared at me mockingly, thinking he had the one up on me. I'm really starting to not like this guy.

"I didn't hurt her if that's what you're implying but other than that no, I don't have to explain myself to you. If Sky doesn't want me around—which is untrue—then she can say it to me herself. What happened with her eye was all a misunderstanding; a misunderstanding that she's most likely already explained to you as well so I don't see why you're here asking for my side of it. She's fine. I'm fine. _Run along_."

"I don't even understand why you're after her, Zed." Nelson mused. "She isn't your usual type." Where's he going with this?

"Is there a point that you're trying to make in that realisation?"

"My point is: What changed?" Nelson challenged. "Do you just want fuck with her then drop her like your regular girlfriends?"

All the remaining humour drained out of me. "Hoffman." I warned.

"That's it isn't it?" Hoffman carried on, oblivious that my hands had clenched into fists and the anger on my face was most likely creeping through the cracks of my façade. Hoffman looks at me in disgust, like that was actually my intention. "You do realise that Sky won't do any of that stuff right? She's as prudest as they come. We call her 'Bambi' for a reason. So you may as well as throw that idea out of your mind because—"

I don't know what happened, all I can remember is my resolve snapping. I don't remember deciding to slam Hoffman against the locker room's wall until it had actually happened and my hand was wrapped around his neck. I knew it was a bad decision—especially in front of all these witnesses—and will probably lead into me taking a nice little stroll to the Principals office but right now, I was too angry to care.

I leaned my head closer to Hoffman's, my façade completely gone so he could see how angry I was—and seeing how Hoffman gulped and a hint of nervousness appeared on his face, I think he understands that he overstepped a boundary, too late now though.

"Now listen here, Hoffman," I gritted out quietly, coldly, so only he would be able to hear the words I was about to say. I could hardly recognise my voice, it sounded so dark and menacing and it shocked me, I hadn't found the need to use that voice ever since I found Sky. Hoffman fidgeted, trying to manoeuvre out of my grasp so I tightened my hold on his neck, making him stop and look at me. "You can say whatever you want about me, go ahead—I don't give a shit, but if you so much of _breathe _a bad word about Sky again," My hold around his neck became even tighter, making my meaning clear, "I _will_ make you regret it. I will _not _hold back like I'm doing now—and trust me, this is me holding back. You've pissed me off greatly, usually I'd have pummelled you into the ground for the stuff you've said to me by now but I won't. I care a whole great deal about Sky and what she thinks of me whether you believe it or not and I don't need a _prick _like you making the whole ordeal even harder for me by whispering a bunch of crap in her ear which leads me onto this: Leave. It. Alone, because while I'm happy that you care about Sky I'm _not _happy about you feeling the need of butt in at every given opportunity, so this is the last time you butt in. Are we understood?"

I lean back, still keeping a lock on Hoffman's throat and wait for my answer. I can feel my friends hovering behind me, waiting to intervene at any second, like I'm going to snap again and pummel him to the floor—while tempting as that idea sounds I refrain from it and continue to wait for his answer, my eyes narrowing as his facial expression turns from confused to disbelief.

He starts to laugh, like he's forgotten that I currently have a lock around his throat. "You almost had me, Benedict." Nelson chuckles. "Almost, but you're so full of bullshit. You honestly want me to believe that you care so much of a fraction about Sky? You can spout out all that garbage about you caring and acting like such a decent person but we all know the real you, the jackass that couldn't give a damn about anyone other than himself and once Sky figures that out—which will be soon, it doesn't take someone that long to see through your façade—the better because then she'll be rid of you and will be able to live her life here in peace—"

I snapped, the spring of my self-control was coiled too tightly to begin with but listening to Nelson's words just made the spring snap, pulling back my hand from his neck in the process only to have myself be pulled back by the arms.

"Oi!" hissed Sean in my ear. "Do you want to get suspended? Cut it out."

"I don't care. Let me—" I try to struggle out of Ian and his grips to no avail. "—_go._"

"No mate." Ian said, tightening his hold on my shoulder when I tried to shake it off. "Walk away, Zed. He's not worth the hassle. You're only doing what he wants if you attack him, proving to your bird that you're as bad as he makes you out to be. Leave it mate."

"Take the high road." Sean lowers his voice and adds. "You'll be able to get him back later. When theres less witnesses." He turns to look at Nelson who stares poised at the scene, like he's ready to pounce into a fight at any given minute. "What are you still doing here, Hoffman? Run along home little boy."

Nelson growls and spits something back but I tone it out, feeling the fight in me leave my body and a calmness leak into my red-tinted thoughts, I fucked up again, Sky is going to hear about this. What will she think?

"Benedict!" Coach yells, taking in the scene from Nelson getting up off the ground, rubbing his neck and glaring daggers at me to Sean and Ian holding me in a vice-like grip. Hell, he could probably still smell the testosterone in the air. "What is the meaning of this?"

I straightened up, shrugging off Sean and Ian's grips on my shoulders and walked over to my gym bag, slinging it over my shoulder. "No idea what you're talking about."

"Oh don't give me that, Zed," growled Coach, "I saw you go to punch Nelson as soon as I walked in."

"Well then, there was really no reason to ask then, was there?"

Coach lets out a frustrated sound. "You do realise you'll be put back on suspension watch because of this right? You won't be able to play next weeks game."

"Fine by me, Coach. I was thinking that I needed a rest. Now, if you'll excuse me." I turned on my heel and walked out of the locker room, ignoring Coach's calls to come back.

So, that went well.

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**AN: Well, that was...eventful? Theres a few things I want to cover in this Authors Note so lets get started:**

**- Updates: I'm trying to finish the whole story so writing when I can or I'm in the mood to write is pretty much my goal. It'd be lovely if I have the story finished soon because then I can just update every week but I'm afraid thats not the case yet—I'm sorry.**

**- My qualms about this chapter: I had a lot of writers block with this chapter and I feel like you can tell. One of the main reasons is that I felt like I made Zed and Nelson too much of a jerk or really Out of Character, but when I think of it and my reasonings about why I wrote them like that is because [from experience] I have seen that boys when in arguments try VERY HARD to get underneath each others skins, mainly to get a rise and start a fight. We already know what Zed is like: He is temperamental, he often doesn't think about what he's doing—he just acts. We have no clue what Nelson is like, we only know how he acts with the girls and around Sky. For all we know Nelson could be an utter arsehole around the guys when he's angry, possessive and what not but could be the ****most loving, caring boy to have ever met the earth when he's around the people he loves. We just don't know, thats what I had so much trouble with exploring because it could've gone in so many different ways and I basically just had to pick a random one and hoped for the best. **

**Next chapter will be better, promise.**

**Anyway, I would absolutely love for you to tell me your honest opinion of this chapter. I'd love to hear and take what you say about it/the story in general on board when I carry on writing.**

**So yeah, review and I'll see you soon. X**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Wow, chapter 16. Kinda confusing because it says chapter 16 on my document but thankfully ffnet keeps me in check. I would apologise for the late update but I've been at LeakyCon London (Harry Potter convention for people who don't know) and then I've been working non-stop. Stupid job. I'm writing as much as possible though so just bear with me.**

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**Chapter 16**

"So, I hear you're on suspension watch again." A voice says from behind me.

I hear footsteps on the gravel slowly getting closer followed by another pair of footsteps and I curse. They've found me, I just want to sulk in silence before facing the world again, but I couldn't even get that.

I turn my head in acknowledgement before turning back to scenery shown from the Rocky Mountains. "What else is new?"

"I thought you were over this, Zed?" Yves asked sitting down next to me. Xav sat down next on the other side. "We thought you were getting better now that you're with Sky."

"I am," I turned my head to look at him, my eyes sincere, "I'm nothing like before."

"We know you're not, mate." Xav said, drawing my attention to him when he patted me on the back. "But why the suspension watch? I got home from the slopes to find Mom raving about some phone call from school to Dad. Assumed it wasn't about Brainy-boy here," he gestured to Yves, "so I guessed you had gotten into some fight—"

"_Not _a fight. I threw no punches… maybe threw him against a wall but there were no punches."

"Restraint?" Xav looked at me with mock-shock. "You're showing some restraint? Who are you and what have you done with our Zed? I don't know whether I like this new addition to your personality or if I should be worried."

"Oh fuck off." I shoved him away, ignoring the traitorous grin that was creeping along my face.

"Mom's fuming though, Zed. You've got a lecture and probably grounding even though we're technically still on lockdown—"

"'Lockdown'? More like house arrest, Yves." I cut in with a scoff.

Yves ignored me, "—you've taken a great risk coming out here today, not just for yourself but for all of us. Coming out to a place like this on your own? A deserted road that has no human interaction that much, what if the killers are laying low here?"

"My gift would've alerted me."

"Oh? Like it alerted you last time?"

I growled, suddenly growing tired of this brotherly intervention. "What are you guys doing here anyway? I'm fine, as you can see, so you may as well head home."

"We can't, not until we've heard the full story—"

"I'm interested in hearing this too." Xav piped up. "Especially when you didn't throw any punches— Sky's turning you soft."

"—_besides,_" Yves carried on loudly shooting Xav a look, "Vic and Uri are waiting in the car, Trace is taking no chances so we go when you go."

"So start talking, brother." Xav smiles smugly, making himself comfortable.

"It was about Sky—the brawl."

Xav scoffed. "Well that much was obvious." Yves cracked a grin.

"Hoffman—one of Sky's friends—gave me shit for what happened for that night with the hunters. I mean he doesn't know what happened for sure. He just thinks that Sky and I were play fighting and she ran into my elbow. Well, no, scratch that he thinks that I punched her but if I think about that too much I'm just gonna get angry again."

"He thinks you attacked her?" Yves looked shocked.

"Yup. Enter why I got angry. Well, I stayed calm during that. I didn't want him to see that he got to me… but then he started spouting all the crap about Sky and how she's a prude and wasn't going to be the next notch on my belt and I don't even want that, I couldn't care less if she's a prude or not, she's all I care about but to hear Hoffman say all that about her, I just kind of…snapped and the next thing I knew, I had him pinned up against the wall with my hand around his neck."

"Christ." Xav muttered. "And here I was, thinking you had restraint."

"Trust me, I do. I wanted to do more than pin him against a wall." Yves starts to chuckle, I give him a side-glance. "What?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing. I just," he chuckles some more, "I just keep forgetting how much you care about her, then moments like these it kind of hits me in the face and…and, I'm happy for you, Zed. I really am. She may not be your soulfinder but you sure as hell treat her as one."

I felt like I had a lump in my throat when I swallow down what Yves said. "Thanks, Yves."

"Bet this is killing you though," Yves carries on, "only seeing her during school. I mean, I saw Tina come up to you earlier today inviting you to that Halloween bash. Sky's bound to be there, and there's no chance of Mom letting you out to it now—even if we weren't under lockdown, you'd be grounded."

"And you know Dad," Xav joined in, "he acts like whatever Mom says is law. So you can count him out."

"Great. Fucking marvellous."

"Boys." Victor's irritated voice came from behind us, dripping with sarcasm. "While I'm loving this brotherly bond that's going on here can we get going? You guys were only supposed to come here to get Zed and come back to the car. 30 minutes have passed and you're still out here, so c'mon, get going."

"Yes officer." Chirped Xav strolling to the car followed by Yves and I.

Once we had gotten into the car, with only a disapproving look off Uri that made me feel terrible, we set off home. Halfway through the drive Xav perked up next to me and turned to look at me.

"…What?" I didn't like the mischievous look in his eyes.

He leans towards me and murmurs so lowly that only I can hear him. "Don't worry, Zed. I've got a plan."

"That's great," I murmured back, "but a plan for what may I ask?"

"For Halloween."

Sometimes I really do love my brother.

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**AN: Short chapter, I know. I'm building up to something though—promise.**

**You know the drill, review and tell me what you think, even yell at me for the lateness and the shortness of the chapter—god knows I deserve it.**

**Well, until next time.**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: So, let me give you an insight of my life: I upload a chapter and I get reviews and I'm like YEAHHH, LETS WRITE ANOTHER CHAPTER! I'LL UPDATE THE NEXT DAY *writes 3 sentences*. Thats pretty damned good, now, lets watch some Friends. 2 weeks later, this is being released. It happens every time, without a doubt.**

**Onto the chapter! Have a nice long chapter as my apology. **

**Disclaimer: If you recognise anything - its not mine. Although, I'd bargain a hefty price for Xav. Its a shame he's taken... sigh.**

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**Chapter 17**

"Wolfman? This is your master plan, Xav?"

"What? Don't tell me you'd rather go as a zombie!" Xav looked at me with mock-horror. "Where is your sense of imagination, brother!? I know this family was lacking the humour until I was born but—"

"You can't let the whole Wolfman ordeal drop now, can you?" I cut him off, not wanting to hear him stroke his own ego.

I was stood in Xav's bedroom, in the exact same place I've been stood in for nearly 10 minutes marvelling at the lengths my brother goes to just to make fun of me. "Where did you even get it anyway?" I marvelled out loud. It's been bothering me since he unleashed the outfit on me. He had laid it out on his bed: there was a full face mask that was sprouting hair from the ears, a pair of shaggy paws and an outfit I could make out as my own—he must've obviously took the clothes out of my wardrobe when I wasn't looking—but Xav had somehow managed to make it look like their were hair sprouting out of the clothes too; the perfect Wolfman outfit.

"The mask I found in Aspen—"

"What? Brother broke the rules?" I faked wiping a tear out of my eye. "I feel so proud."

"—_the rest_" Xav carried on loudly, "I made myself. Took some clothes out of your wardrobe when you were getting a bollocking off Mom and made it look like hair was sprouting from the clothes and voilà!" He kissed his fingers for emphasis. "I feel like I need to pat myself on the back its so great."

"You really do go to marvelling lengths just to make fun of me, you know that right? I don't know whether to feel concerned or happy that you go to such great lengths just for me."

"Well I can hardly make fun of Yves, his stuff is just too confusing for a non-brainiac to try and make sense of it. Put it on, I want to see what it looks like!"

"No, you just want to take the piss."

"That too. Put it on!" He took the clothes off the bed and threw them at me. I threw them back at him.

"No. Not in here, I can hardly go downstairs wearing them and walk past Mom and Dad with a 'See ya later'. You know I'm grounded."

I thought back to a couple days ago when I got home from my little outing after the fight. Boy, was Mom mad.

_As soon as I walked through the front room with Vic and Uri, Mom was on me like a shock._

_"What were you thinking, Zed? I got a phone call from Mr Joe informing me that you had been fighting and not only that, you ran off on your own when there are killers still running about wanting our heads!" Mom yelled, getting up from her seat on the stairway. Next to her, Dad was leaning against the wall and looking at me at disappointment. Surely he should understand?_

_"I didn't think. I'm sorry; it's just that tw-" I caught myself, "_twit _said something, well, many things about Sky trying to get a rise out of me and it worked OK? But I didn't punch him, so technically that's an improvement." I gave Mom and Dad a smile and walked to the kitchen, I could hear Mom's footsteps and sighed. This wasn't over._

_"You're on suspension watch. Again! You can't keep doing this, Zed, you can't just keep losing your head as soon as something makes you angry."_

_I spun around to face her only to see the rest of the family had followed us. "Why not? It works doesn't it?"_

_"Yes but at whose expense?" Dad replied calmly. "Look son, I'm sure it wasn't your fault. I know how protective you are over Sky." Dad caught my eyes and I realised, he understood. He knew first hand what I was felt—what I was_ still feeling. _But he and Mom were still going to punish me; I could see it in their eyes. "But," Dad's voice brought me out of my thoughts, "you were still in the wrong if not in the fight then in running off when the danger hasn't gone away. What do we have to do to get it into your head that this is a serious matter? Don't you remember Longmont? If we carry on then this will just a repeat of that experience_—_we can't have that happening."_

_"I remember Longmont, Dad. I understand the dangers."_

_"I don't think you do otherwise you would've come back here instead of running off elsewhere, or better yet, you could've stayed at school until Victor came to pick you up."_

_"I wasn't in the right frame of mind to think of any of that. Look," I looked at my family, "I'm sorry alright? I'm sorry that I'm on freaking suspension watch again and I'm sorry that I 'ran' off. I needed time to myself before I came back to this. The judgement. Punish me do whatever you want but my gift would've alerted me to any of the people wanting to sneak up on me_—"

_"What? Like it did last time?" Vic asked bluntly, "And, if I may ask, how did that work out for you? Or can't you remember Sky's eye?"_

_I glared at him and went to open my mouth to retort but Dad silenced me with a look and turned to Vic. "You're not helping, Vic." He turned to me. "But he's right Zed, there's a Savant on their side who could be blocking their presence. You could've been hurt_—"

_"We're doing this for your own protection, Zed, you're grounded. For the foreseeable future_—_or until your father and I sit down and think of how long you should be grounded for. You can see Sky in school but not out of." I looked up at her quickly to see if she was serious and opened my mouth to protest. "End of discussion." She cut me off with a look. "Now, go up to your room. I'm sure you have work to get on with."_

"Of course not." Xav scoffed. "I have a plan for that."

"Gee you just have a plan for everything now don't you?" I did appreciate this though, I didn't understand his reasoning behind all this but I appreciated this nonetheless.

"Of course! Basically, you're going to get your tools and put your costume in your toolbag and go and tell Mom and Dad you're working on your bike. They'll say yes because, lets face it: you know they will. Then I'll cover you until you get back. Its simple, unless you get caught that is, then it gets problematic."

"It's easy then, I won't get caught."

"I'm holding you to that, brother."

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Xav plan went off smoothly. As soon as I went to the garage, I put on the outfit and I was on my way to find Sky. I opened myself to my gift and found her off trick and treating with her friends. I frowned at the lack of other information that my gift was giving to me. All I could see was a group of shadows—her friends—but not much else. This was it, I realised, now that I spend more time with her I don't get to keep tabs on her (or the future keep tabs on us, should I say) anymore, or getting close to that point. I didn't know whether to feel happy about that or not, I mean, on the one hand I was now getting so close to her that my gift now reacted to her like it does to the rest of my family but then on the other hand, it just means one more person that I care about I can't protect. Especially when I needed to protect them the most.

Shaking my head out of the darkness, I decided to put my thoughts on a lighter topic, which was the topic at hand and decided that from what I saw in the vision, by the time that I got to where she would be she would be near Tina's so I headed off in that direction.

As I got nearer to Tina's house—my intention being to wait by the house and make myself known to Sky once they had arrived—I saw a group of friends in front of me and realised in the mix of them all, there was Sky. I could feel it in my bones.

I hurried along to try and catch up with her only to nearly stop frozen in the middle of the road when I got a good look at Sky. Was she trying to kill me? Who wears that type of tight-fitting costume in this sort of weather? She looked beautiful mind you; she always did, even if you couldn't see her face in the mask. She was wearing a skeleton costume topped with a skeleton full-faced mask so she could keep her identity a secret. Smart girl, although she was probably more bothered about being seen in her costume then she was about the killers finding her.

I slipped through the crowd and sidled up to Sky. Out of fun, I decided to bend my head down to growl in her ear.

She jumped as expected. "Zed?" yelped Sky.

"Sshh." I murmured, just loving the fact that I was this close to her again. "I don't want people to know I'm here. And don't, you know, _think _to me, in case someone's listening in."

Sky started to giggle and I felt a grin creep onto my face. "Ah, Wolfman, you are a master of disguise, fooling the bad guys with your cunning."

I suddenly felt conscious that I would have us caught. "I do blend, don't I? I knew you'd be out after dark, so here I am."

I felt her happiness deflate a smidge beside me and I felt a surge of guilt hit me in the chest. She came out here to have some fun, not to be reminded of the dangers around our lives.

I put a shaggy paw around her waist and decided to change the subject. "I'm not sure I approve of this costume of yours. Couldn't you put on a cloak or something?"

"I feel really cold actually. Simon didn't think of this when he made it for me."

I shrugged out of my coat automatically and slipped it over her shoulders as I still processed that piece of information. "Your _dad _made this? We are talking about the same guy right? The one who wants to lock you away until you're thirty? Has he had a personality change since I last saw him?"

"It's artistic." Sky was on defensive, it amused me to know end. "He wasn't thinking about how his daughter would look—just getting the right shape. He and Sally are at home in identical outfits."

I chuckled softly at the image of the two of them handing out candy in their outfits. I wish we could take a detour to the party just to see them, although if we did that Simon would probably never let me see his daughter again.

"So, did you tell your parents you were going out?" Sky asked.

"Nah, they still think we need to circle the wagons back home. I'm tinkering with the bike in the garage. Xav's covering for me."

"How are they going to react?"

I frowned, pondering the thought. "I can't see—it's hard with family. There are so many possibilities in a house of savants that I think the future gets fuzzy, like interference on a cellphone. And it's weird: I've noticed that the closer I get to you, the less I see about you."

"Does that mean I could beat you at cards now?"

"Probably. But I think I might not be able to help you out with your goal-keeping either, so there's a drawback."

"That's fine by me. It's not nice knowing you see so much all the time. Makes me feel… I dunno, _caged _by it all—by the future."

"Yeah, I prefer it this way. It feels more normal."

We had finally reached Tina's house and I gave a low whistle. She'd really gone all out this year: carved pumpkins on the window ledges; the porch filled with spiders, bats and snakes… it looked like something my Mom would do if given the opportunity. Luckily, we hardly get any trick or treaters and even if we did, this year there would be no answering of the door.

As I looked at Tina's family I realised I would now have to let her go and isolate myself from her so we aren't caught together. "Let's go in and stay for a while, then slip away," I suggested, "I really want to be alone with you for an hour or so. It's killing me having to steal all these moments at school; always worrying someone's going to walk in on us."

"OK, but I can't bail out too early."

"I'll keep away from you in there. If anyone recognises me beneath the costume, they wont think anything of it. Tina did invite me."

I walked in with Sky and let go of her hand once we arrived in the kitchen, looking around curiously at the surroundings as I hung back to watch Sky. Tina's mother had a huge cauldron full of popcorn for the guests to eat and green jelly that was apparently a game seeing as Tina herself started shouting for a blind fold and telling Sky rather loudly the rules and instructions as she took off her skeleton mask. I frowned, wondering if it was wise for her to take off her mask but tossed the thought out of my mind, she was with her friends, there was no threat here—other than the idiot in the zombie costume who turned out to be her jelly feeding partner. My jealousy surged, I wish I could've been able to take a part of it, be a part in her fun without the dangers of our relationship hanging over our heads. I just wished could have a normal relationship with Sky, I wouldn't change what I have with her now for the world though, what I have with my soulfinder now is better than nothing at all.

As the night progressed I found myself enjoying watching Sky have fun, witnessing the happy expression on Sky's face as she tried—unsuccessfully—to apple bob. I also enjoyed the glances she gave me from time to time, reminding me that just because I was hidden away from the fun she still knew I was there and still looked around to make sure I was near. It gave me hope, that after all of this madness we could actually have the normal soulfinder relationship that I wanted with her.

Sky turned to make her goodbyes and I decided to wait on the porch. She came outside a few minutes later.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. Where are we going?"

"Let's head up to your place. There's a coffee bar on Main Street that should be open."

"Is that safe?"

"Should be. We'll go to one of the booths in the back. As much as I appreciate the value of blending, I don't want to sit with this mask on all night."

She held out the skull mask to me with a question in her eyes and a grumble in her voice. "Should I put this back on? I feel really stupid wearing it." I held back a grin.

"You might want to think that people can see who's wearing the skeleton suit if you don't."

Sky paled at that. "Good point." The mask went on quickly before she started giggling. "This is our second date, isn't it?"

I grinned before lacing my hairy claws to her skele-boned fingers. "See, I told you I'd come up with something better."

We walked hand-in-hand silently to the coffee shop near Sky's. It was nice to do this again; I had missed the freedom of just walking around in public like this—I missed being able to show that she was mine in school, not being able to go up to her and sling my arm around her in greeting… or even going up to her and saying hello. It killed me to have to keep away from her in school just for the show of it.

When we arrived at the coffee bar we found it was crowded by parents that were taking a 'warming break' after traipsing 'round after their sugar-hyped kids all evening. Poor blighters.

Finally, after some time a back booth became free so I quickly ushered Sky into the booth before turning to her for her order. "What'll you have?"

"Hot chocolate with all the trimmings." I grinned. Of course she'd want that, that was a typical Sky answer.

I carried over a tall glass overflowing with cream and marshmallows, marvelling at how Sky could possibly drink all this without getting sick. It kind of made my choice for black coffee rather boring.

I sat down and watched as she took the glass eagerly off me and took a big gulp of her drink, unable to keep from chuckling from her reaction. If I ever get on the wrong side of her, hot chocolate is the way back to her heart—I may have to remember that snippet of information.

"You don't know what you're missing." Sky sighed with ecstasy and I forced back a chuckle again.

"I think I'm probably getting as much pleasure watching you." I replied with a grin before taking a sip of my coffee. "It's a cheap date, I know—sorry about that."

She waved her chocolate covered stirrer at me. "Yeah, you know me: I'm sitting here calculating how much you spent. Next time I'm expecting caviar at a five star restaurant."

My grin turned into a smile. "I can stretch to a burger at the diner if you're hungry."

Sky tugged a paw off my hand and warmed it against hand. "Don't be daft. My treat next time, let's keep this equal."

"I don't mind splitting the bill, but I kinda prefer buying for my date. I don't think I'd like it if you paid for me."

She laughed. "You grew up with cavemen, right?"

"You've met my dad and my brothers. I rest my case."

We walked back through the now much quieter streets; I welcomed the silence, especially as I turned to look at Sky and watched her take in the scenery. This must be a lot different to her life in England I thought as I looked at the snow-capped mountains.

"Makes me feel very small." She murmured, her eyes on the mountains.

"I hate to break it to you, Sky, but you _are _small."

That earned a light whack in the stomach, I let out an 'oof' of air for her benefit although all I wanted to do was laugh. "Look, I was having a moment here—one of those 'isn't the universe so mind-blowing?' things. Have some respect."

I grinned. "It's a challenge when you're wearing a bone suit. Do you realise you're shining in the moonlight? It's very distracting, I don't think I've ever had a date do that before."

She looked at me with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "And just _who _have you dated Mr. Benedict? Tina says your family don't go out with girls from Wrickenridge."

I curse mentally. I had to bring it up didn't I? I chose my words carefully before speaking. "That's true. You're the exception. I've dated a few—from Aspen mostly." I wrap my arm around her waist and gave it a squeeze. "How about you?"

Sky blushed causing my curiosity to spike. "My friends back home did set me up with a boy once. It was a disaster. He was so in love with himself, it wasn't true."

I felt relieved for some reason; I didn't like the thought of her dating someone else. "So he wanted you for arm candy?"

"For what?" Sky looked at me blankly, I realised then she still wasn't used to the American slang.

"For image." I elaborated.

"Oh, I suppose. We only went out twice before I got fed up. So you see my experience is pretty limited."

"Can't say I'm sorry to hear that. Did you enjoy the party?"

"The games were silly but fun."

"I hoped you'd mention them. I was particularly intrigued by what happed to that jelly." I leaned in to start nuzzling her neck and got the taste of the lime jelly that fell there during the party. "Hmmm," I murmured against her neck happily, "yep, you definitely didn't get it all off."

"Zed!" She giggled.

"Sshh! I'm busy here."

When my 'clean up'—brilliant name that—was over we turned into Sky's road. As we did so two idiots dressed as axe murders ran out of the mist, yelling bloody murder. Ignoring them to start off with and turned to talk to Sky until they ran towards us.

"Charge!" one yelled. Heading straight for Sky knife extended.

Sky ducked out of the way and screamed. That caused it, all I could think about was my first premonition about Sky. The knives, the blood, all I could see was red as my rage took over me and I acted.

I grabbed the boy's wrist and twisted it until the knife fell and jumped him, pinning him to the ground.

"Zed! Stop it!" I heard Sky's voice through the mist of my anger but I ignored it as the other attacker leapt at me with his fists extended. I blacked out, my anger took over and my hands curled up into fists preparing to attack.

"—what the hell's happening?"

"Stop them Simon—"

I got pulled away from the fight and the mist started to fade as I took in the surroundings. I saw that the boys I just attacked were just kids dressed up for Halloween and the person holding them away from me was in fact, Simon. _Shit._

Flashing lights caught my attention and I realised someone had called the cops. _Fucking shit. _I've done it this time.

The cop took one look at us and sighed before taking out his notepad. "Who's going to tell me what this is all about." He glanced at me, great. "I know you, Zed Benedict, and these are the Gordano twin, yes? And this little… uh… lady skeleton?" Fuck, I've got Sky in trouble. Just as she's been released from her punishment she gets put back on it.

"Her name's Sky, Sky Bright, my daughter," Simon said stiffly, glaring at me. "She wasn't fighting."

"You're the English family, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"I know these boys—they're good boys," the Cop said, looking at the twins. "Never had no trouble from them. Who started this?"

His gaze went to me. Oh, I see. Freaking favouritism right there. However true it may be, just go pointing at the guy with the bad reputation. Cheers man, hats off to you.

"He attacked Sky." I wiped the blood from my split lip.

"Well, duh! I was just playing man: it's Hal-oh-een remember? Zed went ballistic, Officer Hussein." Stupid axeman. Hug your ribs all you want, I hope I made them hurt.

The cop sighed again and looked back to his car. "Let's take this down to the station, boys. I'll get the duty doctor to take a look at you and phone your parents."

I shoot Sky a desperate look. My parents are going to kill me. Once again, our date was once again ending on bad terms. Sky looked back at me with understanding that just made me feel even worse.

"Zed, in the car." I reluctantly got in the car after shooting Sky another apologetic look. "And you, young lady, I think we'll need your side of this too. Perhaps your parents can bring you down. I seem to have my hands full of psycho killers and werewolves."

Luckily the cop didn't sound like she was in much trouble, which is a relief.

"I'll bring her," Simon grounded out in clipped terms.

_Crap, spoke to soon._

* * *

I zoned out the drive and the whole ordeal. Only speaking when spoken to or asked a question. I couldn't help but worry about what my parents would have to say to me. I could almost hear the lecture Mom would give me, I bet it'll be a good one by her standards.

Wallowing in self-pity I felt myself brighten as I saw Sky walk in, her costume reflecting off the lights at the station with a determined look on her face—a determination to help me out of the mess I created even though I was the one in the wrong—I realised that I loved her. I loved everything about her, when looking back on I think I fell for her slightly when she yelled at me in front of all my friends during the parking lot. I just… I just loved everything about her and I couldn't believe I've just been so blind about my feelings for so long. I loved her. _I loved her._ I loved her laugh, her smile, and the way her eyes twinkle when she looks at me. Everything, I loved her loyalty, her stubbornness, the way she processes things in her mind. I felt my love for her bubble up in my chest and squeeze against my ribcage so hard trying to get to her that it made me short of breath—I loved her, I loved her so much and it scared me to death.

I watched as she was ushered into the office before putting my head in my hands. What am I going to do?

"'It's easy then'" A voice mocked, I looked up and there was Xav, grinning at me—always finding the humour in everything, "'I wont get caught.'" Xav shook his head, "I should've placed a bet. Could've earned a bit of cash as well as the punishment I'm bound to get when they realise my part in all of this. Could've bought that new Ski set that I want with that cash."

"Sorry man," Xav sat down next to me. "how mad are they?"

"Very mad." Vic replied as he walked in with Yves. "Very mad indeed. The shit you do, Zed. Sometimes I can't keep up with it all. Nice costume by the way."

"It is, isn't it?" Xav said smugly, sizing me up like he only just realised I was wearing it. "Very nice indeed."

"What caused this?" asked Yves, sitting down on the other side of me. "What did you do to end up her—"

"Zed Benedict." Mom's icy, angry voice cut through the conversation and I looked up, seeing her and dad walk towards me. Shit, here it comes. "You better have a good excuse for all of this right now. First sneaking out then brawling on the street like, like…"

"A Wolfman?" Xav supplied cheerfully. I snorted.

"Xavier, keep quiet." Mom snapped.

"We told you specifically that you were grounded, Zed, that you couldn't see Sky outside of school then not only do you sneak out and worry us you—"

"They attacked Sky!" I shot back, interrupting the start of my Dads probably well thought out lecture. "It was my premonition—the one with the knives—she screamed. I reacted, how was I supposed to know that they were kids and it was fake knives? All I had in my mind right then was Sky's safety, not the backlash of all of this. I saw a knife, however plastic I still saw a knife and I heard and saw Sky's fear. I reacted like any one of us would have in the situation and I'm not going to take any of it back." There, I said my piece.

"That may well be and I'm glad you reacted and I'm glad Sky is OK." Dad started. "You're right: we would have reacted but not in the same way, your temper is irrational Zed, you need to lock on it otherwise this is just going to keep happening and we'll get nowhere. Look, I know you were just looking out for your…" he faltered and I knew that the word 'soulfinder' was on the tip of his tongue, "your _girlfriend_ but you took it too far Zed. You—"

"You betrayed our trust." Mom carried on, and I felt frustrated. Actually frustrated was an understatement: I was downright angry. "You snuck out the house, when we specifically told you not to—you know the dangers, Zed! We've talked about this. You know how they work: To hurt one of us, hurts us all. Do you want to be that person? Being out on your own like you've been doing isn't safe. Not for you, not _for Sky._ Do you want to keep putting her in danger? Because that's what you're doing right now, by being seen out with her and causing a scene yourself you're attracting attention to her. You need to learn to think with your brain and not your fists. I mean honestly! Brawling on the streets, what were you thinking…" I tuned the rest of the lecture out as Hussein came out of the room with Sky and Simon clapping his hands to gain our attention.

"All right, all right, people, let's move this along. I want a quick word with Zed, then you can all go." I got up sluggishly and started to walk towards the office where the Officer, Simon and Sky were standing. As I walked past Sky I took her hand in mine and gave it a quick squeeze of comfort before releasing it and moving into the room.

"You got lucky, kid. No record this time. We've decided that even though there's no major injuries there's still a few teeth that need fixing that were loosened by your hand. So, to remedy this you're going to be splitting the dentist bill with the Gordano's. You got off easy, kid. Don't let me see you in here again."

I took that as my queue to leave so I thanked him—however reluctantly—and exited the room. Xav and Yves were stood talking to Sky, Xav pulling Sky's plait in a teasing manner with a smile on his face.

I smiled and went to walk over to them. "Ah ah ah, not so fast, little brother. It's time to go." Vic ushered me towards my parents.

"Aren't I even allowed to say bye to Sky?"

"Nope. Under strict orders I'm afraid. What's the verdict?"

"Gotta pay a bill, can you please let me say goodbye to Sky?"

"Got off easy and no, sorry Zed. Like I said: Under orders."

Once I got to Mom and Dad, Sky and I was frogmarched to our separate vehicles. I was humiliated.

_I feel like I've been sucker-punched. _I shot to Sky, hoping that none of the family was listening in. _I can't leave without saying sorry. Again._

_What happened?_

_I lost it, flipped out_—_all thanks to my freaking gift. I'd seen what was going to happen, you see, months back. Saw you being attacked with a knife. I hadn't realised that it was a fake._

_But that's good isn't it? The threat wasn't real._

_Yeah, but you've just swapped my imagined threat for the real one of assassins. Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of the Benedict family. _I looked at Dad to realise he was staring at me. _…I'd better stop talking; Dad's giving me these weird looks._

_Zed?_

_Yeah?_

_Take care._

I smiled. _"You too. Love you."_

* * *

**A/N: In all seriousness though, thank you to everyone who has stuck by my sucky updates and how random they are, 40,000 odd words later and y'all still here—and I love you all for it. I really do. I'll try to update quicker, I've just been swamped with packing and I know that isn't an excuse but thats what I'm going with. One of these days I'm gonna shock you all by updating so much that you're just going to be like "...is she OK? I think she's had one too many energy drinks to the head." Which you know, is quite probable seeing as I'll be a University when I next update and will probably need all the energy drinks I can get.**

**I hoped you enjoyed the long chapter. I probably should've split up into two chapters but then I thought you guys deserved it so have it all in its 5,331 word glory**

**Anyway, make sure to review. I read every single one of them and they give me motivation to write and want to update quickly and without them I just don't feel like writing (hell yeah, I went there)**

**Love you all! Until next time. x**


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